Addressing the Closing Ceremony of IDEF’23 16th International Defense Industry Fair, President Erdoğan said: “We will continue to work without a break until we achieve our goal of a fully independent Türkiye in defense industry.”

Drawing attention to the global success IDEF has accomplished in a short span of time, Erdoğan said: “Over the course of its 30-year-long history, not quite a long time given the history of trade fairs, IDEF has turned into a global trademark where the heart of the industry beats. This fact, an important gain on the part of Türkiye, is also evidenced by the expanding spectrum of our products as well as by the number of participants and firms. Nearly 200 systems and subsystems in various categories were displayed at the fair, during which the Turkish defense industry was showcased. IDEF’23 has been very productive in terms of business deals as well.”

“We are one of the 10 countries capable of building its own warship”

Erdoğan stated: “We have lowered our foreign dependency to around 20 percent. Today, we are capable of meeting the majority of our needs for land, aerial and marine vehicles through our own domestic and national means. The level we have reached in the UAV and UCAV technology is already well known. We have taken the journey we embarked upon with TB2 and ANKA to an upper league with AKINCI and AKSUNGUR. KIZILELMA, our unmanned fighter aircraft, will break new ground in this field.”

Underlining that Türkiye is one of the 10 countries capable of building its own warship, President Erdoğan added: “We not only design and build our ships by ourselves, but we also develop a wide range of their technology including weapon systems, radars, data systems and electronic warfare. We continuously enhance our capacity with new products in the area of unmanned marine, aerial and land vehicles.” 

“Our national combat aircraft KAAN will be in the sky by the end of the year”

Noting that Türkiye continued to make new products and find new customers and markets for its products during the recent election period as well, Erdoğan stated: “So far since the beginning of this year alone, we have put into use our new ALTAY tank; our navy’s flagship TCG ANADOLU; the fifth generation national combat aircraft KAAN; HÜRJET and ATAK-2; and the new generation FIRTINA howitzers; in short, we have successfully tested, deployed or delivered many products of historic importance in air, at sea, or on land.”

Stressing Türkiye’s ambitious goals in the production of aerial vehicles, Erdoğan noted: “KAAN, which we took out of the hangar three months ago, will inshallah be in the sky by the end of the year. We see the project partnership agreement signed about KAAN with the brotherly Azerbaijan as an embodiment of the solidarity between the two countries. We are planning to add HÜRJET, which made its maiden flight in recent months, to the inventory in 2025. We will continue to work without a break until we achieve our goal of a fully independent Türkiye in defense industry.” (ILKHA)