On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the achievements his country has made in the field of domestic defense industries over the past 20 years. He made these remarks during the conclusion of a military industries exhibition in Istanbul.
Erdogan said that “In the past, Turkey imported all its weapons from abroad, even handguns and individual weapons used by police officers. They used to refuse to sell us weapons and defense industries, and impose conditions on Turkey for the use of weapons they agreed to sell us, even the simplest ones. This hindered our operations against terrorist organizations,” in a reference to Western countries.
The Turkish President added that “The achievements we have made in domestic defense industries, over the past 21 years, are clear for everyone to see. They have made us primarily dependent on our own industries and national local companies in our military operations. We have widely opened the field to our defense industries in all directions. We have started to attract new ideas in this reality and turn them into reality.”
He emphasized that his country “will accelerate successes in the projects of its national defense industries and other projects, and will develop solutions to all the problems facing national defense industry companies, and provide everything needed by this sector. We will work hard to achieve independence for Turkey in defense industries, and end the need for abroad in this strategically important sector.” He referred to the fact that “Turkey has developed a model in the defense industry sector,” considering that “looking at the sector only from a commercial perspective and selling these Turkish defense industries abroad is not the right perspective.”
In the conclusion of his speech, the Turkish president affirmed that “At a time when we provide all of Turkey’s needs from aircraft, ships, and drones, we will also stand by our friends.”
