A prominent Turkish defense official has given a rare interview to a regional Middle East outlet wherein he describes NATO as a “zombie alliance” which has outlived its functionality and legitimacy as a real military alliance, something which is becoming increasingly evident at Trump threatens to walk the United States away from being its main funder and leader.

Retired Rear Admiral Cem Gurdeniz is architect of the “Blue Homeland” maritime doctrine and remains a prominent geopolitical commentator in Turkish society and the region. Blue Homeland signifies Ankara’s expanded maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean of the last several years.

The controversially includes waters surrounding the entirety of the EU country of Cyprus (based on the decades-long Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus), which gives Turkey access to large deposits of natural gas. These claims have renewed the long-running geopolitical standoff between Turkey and Greece and Cyprus, with the EU backing their argument that Turkeys is violating their sovereignty.

Thus the Blue Homeland doctrine has pitted NATO powers against each other, with Turkey possessing the second largest army within the NATO alliance. But the country remains somewhat of a wayward thorn in the side of the alliance, given it being at odds with the US on many fronts, most especially policy in northern Syria and the Kurdish question.

Adm. Gurdeniz was recently interviewed by prominent Turkish journalist Ceyda Karan for the Lebanon-based The Cradle, and among the most notable remarks of the former top official is seen in the following:

NATO is now a zombie alliance. It exists more as a myth than a functional military bloc. Its expansion has been reckless. Its operations – from the Balkans to Libya to Ukraine – have destabilized entire regions, and its credibility is collapsing.

The EU, meanwhile, is pushing a €800 billion (approximately $864 billion) military revamp under the name “ReArm Europe.” But this requires massive austerity at home. European governments are preparing their populations for war, not peace. They need enemies to justify the spending.

He then admits, “But without US leadership, NATO cannot survive as a coherent structure. Trump’s America will not fight for Estonia or send troops to Moldova. Europe will have to defend itself – and it is not ready.”

One might not expect this kind of blistering commentary from an admiral from a NATO country, but this is somewhat less surprising coming from someone whose career was in the Turkish military.

Below is the partial interview with link below to the full transcript…

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The Cradle: With US President Donald Trump back in office and the Ukraine war exposing NATO’s weaknesses, how should we understand the rupture in the western-led world order?

Gurdeniz: We are witnessing the second great breakdown of a global security order since World War II. The first came after 1990, when the Soviet Union voluntarily dissolved, and Washington rapidly expanded its influence across Eastern Europe. But today, 80 years after the end of that war, the US is beginning its own retreat – shifting its strategic center of gravity from Europe to the Asia-Pacific. 

The Trump administration recognises this. Its strategy is no longer about global control but about retrenchment and preparing for great power rivalry in the Pacific, particularly with China. This isn’t a tactical adjustment – it’s a systemic collapse. NATO’s defeat in Ukraine was not just a battlefield loss – it was the end of an illusion.

The Cradle: What broke the neocon-led post-Cold War consensus?

Gurdeniz: The post-1990 order was built on the illusion of unipolarity. The US declared liberal capitalist democracy as the universal model. In this system, the west controlled finance, China was tasked with manufacturing, and resource-rich states were expected to supply energy and raw materials. 

But this model encountered fatal contradictions. US military power failed in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. Instead of stability, it brought destruction. Russia reasserted itself militarily after 2008. China rose economically and technologically, challenging western hegemony. 

And together, they built a Eurasian counterbalance. Most crucially, the Global South saw through the facade. Israel’s genocide in Gaza, supported openly by Washington, shattered any remaining legitimacy. The western system now lies exposed – economically overleveraged, diplomatically isolated, and militarily vulnerable.

The Cradle: How do you interpret the Trump administration’s posture toward this collapse?

Gurdeniz: Trump is not the architect of this collapse – he is the product of it. He and his team understand that the post-1945 model no longer serves the US. The manufacturing base is hollowed out. Debt has reached $34 trillion. 

The dollar is being bypassed in global trade. American power is contracting. What Trump offers is a retreat masked as strength. He wants to end America’s entanglements and focus on restoring domestic industry. He knows NATO is a burden, not an asset. His challenge is not ideological – it’s existential. He wants to keep the American empire alive by cutting it down to a sustainable size.

The Cradle: What’s the fate of NATO in this equation?

Gurdeniz: NATO is now a zombie alliance. It exists more as a myth than a functional military bloc. Its expansion has been reckless. Its operations – from the Balkans to Libya to Ukraine – have destabilised entire regions, and its credibility is collapsing.

The EU, meanwhile, is pushing a €800 billion (approximately $864 billion) military revamp under the name “ReArm Europe.” But this requires massive austerity at home. European governments are preparing their populations for war, not peace. They need enemies to justify the spending.

But without US leadership, NATO cannot survive as a coherent structure. Trump’s America will not fight for Estonia or send troops to Moldova. Europe will have to defend itself – and it is not ready.

The Cradle: Is the world truly shifting to a multipolar order – or is it still premature? 

Gurdeniz: The shift is real and irreversible. BRICS is growing. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is expanding. Trade is moving away from the dollar. Regional powers like Iran, India, Brazil, and Turkiye are asserting themselves. This is not a return to Cold War blocs. It’s a rebalancing – a world where no single centre dominates.

Multipolarity is not about utopia. It is about sovereignty. It allows nations to align based on interest, not coercion. The challenge now is to build institutions that reflect this reality – new trade systems, security frameworks, and development banks that are not controlled by the west.

The Cradle: You’ve long championed the “Blue Homeland” maritime doctrine. How does this fit into Turkiye’s future in Eurasia?

Gurdeniz: Blue Homeland is not a slogan – it’s our geopolitical imperative. Turkiye is surrounded by contested waters: the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. If we surrender these spaces, we become landlocked and irrelevant.

Western powers, particularly through Greece and Cyprus, want to trap us in Anatolia. The Seville Map, backed by the EU, would reduce our maritime space by 90 percent. That is a geopolitical death sentence.

Blue Homeland asserts our legal rights, our naval presence, and our energy interests. Combined with the Middle Corridor – which links us to Central Asia and China – we form a continental-maritime axis. This is the backbone of Turkiye’s 21^st-century strategy.

TRUMP: “The U.S. can’t lose $1.9 trillion on trade & also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations. We cover them with military, then we lose money on trade. The whole thing is crazy!”

“The American people understand it a lot better than the media!” pic.twitter.com/gSC29Ze5xb

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 7, 2025

The Cradle: What is your assessment of Turkiye’s economic orientation in this new world order?

Gurdeniz: We must abandon the illusion that foreign direct investment and EU integration will save us. That model has failed. It brought debt, privatisation, and dependency. Our economy must be built on production, not speculation.

This means reindustrialisation, food and energy sovereignty, and regional trade in local currencies. We must protect strategic sectors from foreign ownership. Our Central Bank must be independent not just from the government, but from foreign influence.

Only then can we speak of economic sovereignty.

The Cradle: What about diplomacy? Should Turkiye align with a particular bloc – or pursue non-alignment?

Gurdeniz: We must pursue what I call “assertive non-alignment.” That means refusing to be anyone’s satellite. We keep our options open. We cooperate with Russia, China, and the Global South, but also engage with Europe and the US where our interests align.

But there are red lines. We will not join sanctions regimes against our neighbors. We will not host foreign bases targeting other states. And we will not be dragged into NATO’s failing wars.

Our diplomacy must serve our geography – balanced, firm, and sovereign.

The Cradle: The EU claims to be a “values-based” project. How do you respond to this claim?

Gurdeniz: The EU’s values are selective. When it comes to Turkiye’s maritime rights, they back Greek maximalism. When it comes to Palestine, they say nothing. When it comes to Israel’s crimes, they call it “self-defense.”

This is not about values – it’s about power. The EU wants Turkiye as a buffer zone, a refugee warehouse, and a source of cheap labor. It will never accept us as equals. And we should not want to join such a club.

Our dignity is not for sale.

Read the rest here.