ISTANBUL – In just two decades, Türkiye has made significant strides in its defense industry, reducing its foreign dependency from 80% to 20%, the country’s president said on Sunday.
Speaking at the delivery ceremony of new Altay tanks to the Turkish Armed Forces for tests in the northwestern Sakarya province, Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted Turkiye’s goal to be “fully independent in the defense industry”.
“We have reduced the foreign dependency in the defense industry from around 80 per cent to some 20 per cent in such a short time as 20 years. The number of defense projects, which was merely 62 in 2002, has today surpassed 750,” Anadolu Agency reported Erdogan said.
The Turkish leader also said that while Turkiye’s total budget for defense projects was US$5.5 billion in 2002, now it has reached a US$75-billion project volume, including the ones in the bidding process.
Erdogan stressed that behind every product developed in the defense industry lies years-long efforts, patience, work, and financial power.
“This is how each of our UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) — which stand out all across the world today — and our armored land vehicles, warships, frigates, and missiles, as well as other systems, which are greatly admired, have emerged,” he added.
Turkiye has become a supplier country for the defense industry, with its products used by many armies, the president also underlined.- Bernama
