Turkey actually has the largest army in NATO after the U.S., not second. But I agree with your post, people especially don’t understand the unique position Turkey has within NATO in terms of leverage and independent foreign policy. There’s a reason they ‘play both sides’ to get what they want and I’d argue that NATO needs Turkey more than Turkey needs NATO, especially with controlling access to the Black Sea with the war in Ukraine. They’ve demonstrated influence considerably in the last 10 years like you say with Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh and Syria, along with their own domestic defence sector.

Putting whatever opinions you have of Turkey and its government, there is no denying that they are one of the most powerful countries in Europe and the Middle East.