President Erdoğan: We have agreed on furthering our partnership in defense industry
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at a ceremony held at Istanbul Shipyard Command for the launching ceremony of the first ship of the Pakistan MİLGEM Corvette Project and the first steel cutting of the first ship of the Offshore Patrol Vessel Project.
“WE HAVE AGREED ON FURTHERING OUR PARTNERSHIP IN DEFENSE INDUSTRY”
Expressing his pleasure over hosting brotherly Pakistani people on behalf of the launching ceremony of the first ship of the Pakistan MİLGEM Corvette Project, President Erdoğan underscored that the friendly and brotherly ties between Turkey and Pakistan went back to history, and said: “Pakistan has always had an exceptional place in the hearts of the Turkish people. And we, with the strength we derive from the brotherly ties between our countries, uninterruptedly continue our works to carry our relations to higher levels in every area. Our countries have once again shown through the sincere cooperation they have displayed during the pandemic what being a friendly and brotherly country actually means.”
Further noting that Turkey and Pakistan had agreed on furthering the partnership between the two countries in the field of defense industry, President Erdoğan stated: “We want our strong relations with Pakistan and the cooperation between the two countries in defense industry to reflect on our trade relations as well.”
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT IN ORDER FOR STABILITY TO BE BROUGHT TO AFGHANISTAN”
Stressing that Pakistan had assumed a critical role in the efforts exerted to establish peace and increase prosperity in South Asia, an important region with a population of over two billion people, President Erdoğan went on to say: “The solutions to be found to the problems the region is faced can be achieved only with Pakistan’s support. In this regard, vital duties fall to Pakistan in terms of restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan where the conflicts have recently intensified. Only through this can we remove the worries that the increasing instability in Afghanistan could trigger a new migration wave. As Turkey we are faced with a gradually-increasing Afghan migration wave through Iran. We will continue to make every effort in order for stability to be immediately brought to the region, obviously to Afghanistan in particular.”
Also touching upon the projects and investments made over the past 19 years in Turkey in the field of defense industry, President Erdoğan said: “Once our ongoing projects, all of which will be completed in four to five years, are delivered, Turkey will have joined the world’s top league in the field of defense industry. We believe this is the greatest gift we can give our nation in 2023 which is the centennial of the foundation of our Republic.”
