President Erdoğan: We aim for a fully independent Türkiye in defense industry

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the launch of the test and training ship, “TCG Ufuk,” at Istanbul Shipyard.

“TÜRKİYE OWES ITS CAPABILITY TO MAKE ALL THE MOVES NECESSARY FOR ITS NATIONAL INTERESTS TO ITS PROGRESS IN DEFENSE INDUSTRY”

Noting that the TCG Ufuk would significantly contribute to the conducting of Türkiye’s security and intelligence-gathering activities at sea, President Erdoğan said: “In 2004, we said we no longer wanted to buy from abroad, and that our projects would be domestic and national. We have been working with resolve and determination ever since, and reached this point. The incidents that took place around us in the past decade have shown once again that nations that are not independent in defense industry cannot look to the future with confidence. Thanks to the progress it has made in defense industry, Türkiye has become a country that can make or break plans in its region. Our country’s success has become a major source of hope for all the oppressed and disadvantaged peoples and communities across the world.”

Underscoring that Türkiye owed its capability to make all the moves necessary for its national interests in all areas, including the fight against terror and cross-border operations, despite overt and covert embargos to its progress in defense industry, President Erdoğan said: “Today, we can domestically and nationally design, develop, produce and utilize all the systems across a broad spectrum, including our own unmanned aerial-ground-surface vehicles, helicopters, weapons and ammunitions, missiles, air defense systems, electronic warfare systems. The number of countries that use Turkish defense industry products continue to rise every year. We expect our export volume in defense and aviation to exceed $4 billion by year’s end.”

“TÜRKİYE IS ONE OF THE 10 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THAT CAN DESIGN, BUILD, AND MAINTAIN A WARSHIP”

Underlining that Türkiye was one of the 10 countries in the world with the national capabilities to design, build, and maintain a warship, President Erdoğan said: “Moreover we have achieved to do this with better costs and superior qualities in comparison to its foreign equivalents.”

“In our country’s shipyards, ships and boats are being built for our own needs as well as for countries across the world. We have exported 180 naval platforms to 25 countries,” President Erdoğan noted.