NATO and the GCC states ahead of Turkiye summit

In 2004, when Turkiye hosted the NATO summit in Istanbul, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative was launched to strengthen political and military ties between NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. The initiative aimed to foster security cooperation in the Middle East. As a key NATO member, Turkiye backed strategic dialogue between NATO and the GCC states. The ICI was launched in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq that changed the region’s security order and led to the improvement in Turkiye-GCC relations.