'NATO not obliged to reopen the Strait,' Turkey's trade minister tells Euronews

Published on 10/04/2026 - 9:50 GMT+2

NATO allies are not “obliged” to assistance the United States and Israel successful the warfare with Iran, Turkey’s Trade Minister, Ömer Bolat, told Euronews’ Europe Today.

US President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte successful Washington, DC, urging allies to find a solution to reopening the Strait of Hormuz wrong days.

Rutte is successful Washington for a bid of meetings, including a closed-door treatment with the US president, arsenic good arsenic Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Only a constricted fig of vessels person been capable to walk done the Strait, contempt a tentative ceasefire agreed connected Tuesday evening aimed astatine restoring traffic.

A conjugation of astir 40 countries — chiefly NATO members, alongside Japan, South Korea and Australia — has been moving connected a strategy to unafraid the waterway erstwhile hostilities person ceased.

However, Trump is pushing for an contiguous solution, including the deployment of subject assets and naval forces.

“NATO’s beingness is chiefly arsenic a deterrent unit to support bid and information connected the European continent, but besides globally,” Bolat said.

Asked whether NATO countries were wrong their rights to punctual Trump that the confederation is antiaircraft successful quality and was not progressive successful readying the conflict, Bolat replied: “Yes.”

NATO members person rejected archetypal US calls to enactment the subject run successful Iran, noting they were not consulted up of the strikes.

They besides reaffirmed the alliance’s antiaircraft mandate, rejecting claims from the White House that they had a work to intervene alongside the US.

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