Ankara has applied to participate in the EU defense project, which provides for military cooperation between member states, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing diplomatic sources.

Last week, Turkey applied to participate in the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - the part of the European Union's (EU) security and defense policy - project for the Netherlands, which are coordinating this program.

Ankara seeks to boost its military power by participating in a € 1 billion project that Germany successfully proposed to open to non-EU countries last year.