TASAM | 11th İstanbul Security Conference | 2025 Türkiye Declaration...

11TH ISTANBUL SECURITY CONFERENCE | 2025

TÜRKİYE DECLARATION

“Defence, Security and Intelligence Revolution: Doctrine, Governance,

Industry, New Models and Institutions“

The Istanbul Security Conference, first held in Türkiye in 2015 and now in its tenth year, took place on November 27-28, 2025, at the Wish More Hotel Istanbul, organized by the TASAM National Defence and Security Institute, under the main theme of "Defence, Security and Intelligence Revolution: Doctrine, Governance, Industry, New Models and Institutions."

The 11th Istanbul Security Conference, which has become a regionally and globally recognized brand, saw broad participation from speakers and dignitaries from various countries and regions across all disciplines. All relevant authorities from Türkiye were also represented at the Conference, and the sessions were followed institutionally.

Along with the Conference; On November 27th, the 4th Istanbul Cyber-Security Forum (ICF), the 7th Marine and Maritime Security Forum (MSF), and the 2nd Asia Anew Security Forum (ASF) were held as concurrent events. On November 28th, the 8th Türkiye-Africa Defence Security and Aerospace Forum (TAF) and the 9th Türkiye-Gulf Defence and Security Forum (TGF) were also held.

Bringing together distinguished participants from numerous countries ranging from the USA to China, and from the UK to Russia and Iran, the 11th Istanbul Security Conference has become a global platform where important views and ideas are shared, aiming for new competitive

perspectives centred in Türkiye and Istanbul.

As a result of the conference, the following findings and recommendations were made and it was decided to bring them to the attention of all relevant authorities and the public:

A – GENERAL

I. Technopolitics and Demopolitics

1. Countries that have missed the depth and competitiveness of techno-politics and demopolitics, have failed to transform their institutional power on this basis, and have weakened their social integration are inevitably doomed to collapse. The concepts of "neither friend nor foe," "always crisis, multiple crises," and "neither right nor wrong" are the new nature of the world. There is no other phenomenon besides "transcendence and multi-dimensional competence" that can manage this nature and, when the time comes, build the right way. Developments in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and nuclear fusion each have the power to revolutionize life. Humanity, centred on "demography and demographic transformation," faces the greatest challenge in modern history since the losses of the First and Second World Wars. If a state cannot provide its citizens with clean air, clean water, and clean food, no other security activity is meaningful. Demopolitical

indicators, with their countless components, will determine the present and the future. In this vein, the 21st-century international system is producing structural instability with technological revolutions, multi-dimensional crises, and the proliferation of power centres; In this environment, lasting order is possible through multilateral diplomacy, cooperation, and institutional governance, rather than the unilateral use of force.

2. The understanding of security has fundamentally transformed, with traditional military capacity being replaced by a multi-faceted and holistic security approach encompassing digital, cyber, space, artificial intelligence, and cognitive domains; this transformation has

blurred the lines between intelligence, defence, and diplomacy.

3. Technological and economic dependence has become a more decisive area of vulnerability for modern states than military power; financial and technological independence has emerged as a prerequisite for true strategic autonomy.

4. Gray-space operations, hybrid threats, and digital intelligence are blurring the line between war and peace, severely challenging international law, accountability, and democratic oversight mechanisms.

5. Migration, border security, and counterterrorism are increasingly becoming automated, predictive, and rigid security regimes with artificial intelligence and big data technologies; this process creates structural risks in terms of human rights, privacy, and the rule of law.

6. Conflict resolution and peacebuilding are possible not only through military or diplomatic means but also through institutional capacity building, social legitimacy, psychological healing, and long-term transformation processes; Imposed and external solutions are not sustainable.

7. The prohibition of the use of force and the liberal international order have undergone a serious erosion process due to great power competition, selective norm application, and de facto interventions; in the current international system, the realistic goal is not the complete elimination of war, but the limitation of its destructiveness and the prevention of nuclear conflict.

8. We have entered a period where deterrence will no longer be tested by momentary displays of force based on power, but by the capacity for resilience under crisis and pressure. It can be said that wars have fully transformed into "Industrial Warfare." Instead of a strategy of

demonstrating presence on the battlefield, there is a shift towards a production-oriented strategy based on industrial capacity, supply chain resilience, and the ability to produce rapidly enough to exhaust the enemy's endurance. This development may lead to a radical

change in countries' defence planning approaches. In a high-intensity conflict, the side with the capacity to produce for the longest period to support the conflict will be able to increase its resilience. We are entering a period where the priority of intelligence in conflicts will focus on estimating the enemy's logistical stocks.

9. It is believed that a new understanding of alliances will prevail, where defence partnerships will be replaced by war-focused industrial partnerships. Planning for mobile production of weapons, equipment, and ammunition needed in the operational environment will become

a necessity.

10. It is understood that we are entering a period where, in establishing geopolitical superiority, military deterrence and economic sanctions will be used effectively, along with an approach of acquiring ownership based on discourse or action over the physical geography of the region of interest. Given the complexity of technology and military operational tactics, no two wars will be alike in the future. Wars won solely through advanced military power will be fewer. Technology alone may not be enough to win wars; innovation in operational thinking will also be necessary.

B – THEMES

I. The International System, Power, and Diplomacy

11. The 21st-century international system is being reshaped within the context of the turbulence created by the speed of technological revolutions, increasing strategic uncertainty, and multidimensional crises. Establishing global stability is no longer possible through unilateral use of force, but only through inclusive multilateral diplomacy and institutionalized cooperation mechanisms.

12. The fundamental and ultimate aim of the international system is to build a sustainable order based on stability by minimizing destructive interstate conflicts; in this context, maintaining global peace is not only a moral choice but also a technical and functional necessity for the

survival of the system.

13. Complex problems facing the world today, such as the climate crisis, pandemics, and uncontrolled technological competition, have become too multifaceted, transnational, and structural to be solved through traditional bilateral state relations or limited unilateral interventions.

14. The institutional legitimacy of multilateral diplomacy at the global level largely rests on the United Nations system; however, due to existing veto mechanisms and representational inequality, the system's effectiveness in responding to crises is being questioned more

radically every day.

15. The increasing emphasis on "national interest first" and protectionist approaches in United States foreign policy has weakened the functionality of the rule-based liberal order established after World War II and created a leadership vacuum in global governance.16. The future stability of the global order and its resilience to systemic shocks are directly dependent on reforming and strengthening multilateral diplomatic mechanisms based on international law and building trust among actors.

17. Diplomacy remains the most fundamental and sophisticated tool used by modern states to achieve their foreign policy objectives, aiming at the peaceful management and resolution of international disputes before they escalate into costly wars.

18. While traditional bilateral diplomatic methods retain their importance in basic interstate communication, multilateral diplomacy plays an indispensable and complementary role, particularly in issues concerning global common areas such as the environment, migration, and cyberspace.

19. Ideological and political tensions crystallizing between authoritarian and democratic regime models on a global scale are leading to a polarization based on values, deepening international instability and the risk of systemic bloc formation.

20. The relative weakening of the Western-centric hegemonic order and the diversification of new power centres (Asia-Pacific, Global South) are transforming the international system into a more fragmented, competitive, and unpredictable multipolar structure.

21. Conflict processes, combined with the invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian tragedies in Palestine, clearly demonstrate that conventional warfare and territorial-centred great power competition have returned to international politics with full force, and that normative

limitations have become ineffective.

22. While nuclear weapons technically retain their deterrent role in preventing direct armed conflict between nuclear powers, their stabilizing function has become increasingly controversial due to debates over the tactical use of nuclear weapons and the collapse of arms control agreements.

23. The enormous economic and human costs created by modern conventional and hybrid warfare necessitate that states avoid over-militarizing their foreign policies while protecting their national security and prioritize economic diplomacy.24. New generation threats such as cybersecurity, ecological security triggered by the climate crisis, and the struggle for dominance in space require collective and technology-oriented solutions that go beyond classical realist power politics and border-centric security concepts.

II. Security, Technology and Military Transformation

25. Today, the understanding of defence and security has undergone a radical break from the classical military doctrines inherited from World War II, evolving into a multi-domain hybrid structure where land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace are intertwined.

26. The integration of unmanned aerial, land, and sea systems (UAVs/UASs/UASs) into the battlefield, combined with advanced sensor networks and real-time digital communication, has radically transformed states' military capacity and the concept of "strategic depth."

27. Cybersecurity is no longer merely a technical support unit or a secondary element for the modern state apparatus; it has become a central strategic area directly determining national security, from the protection of critical infrastructure to the defence of sovereign rights.

28. Cyberattacks have the capacity not only to paralyze military communication networks but also to cause social chaos and irreparable economic devastation through energy lines, financial systems, and healthcare networks.

29. Considering the intelligence, communication, and targeting capabilities provided by satellites in Earth orbit, space has become an indispensable strategic backbone of modern military operations and a kind of new "high ground" area of dominance.

30. Control of the electromagnetic spectrum and electronic warfare activities conducted in this field are a critical area of superiority in modern warfare scenarios to blind the enemy's decision-making mechanisms and seize information superiority on the ground.

31. Artificial intelligence algorithms and machine learning processes stand out as a strategic force multiplier in military decision-making speed and operational accuracy by enabling the processing of massive amounts of data in seconds.

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