“Our investments will increasingly continue until we fully liberate our country from foreign dependency in the defense industry. That is so because Turkey had paid dearly in the past for foreign dependency in weaponry, ammunition, and military equipment,” Erdoğan said.

Underlining that Turkey will increasingly continue its investments until it fully gets rid of foreign dependency in the defense industry and that it had paid dearly in the past for foreign dependency in weaponry, ammunition, and military equipment, Erdoğan said: “We never have and never will forget the embargoes, arbitrary practices, pressures and even threats which we faced in the past because of the Cyprus Peace Operation. Let alone deliver us the planes for which we paid in cash, even the planes which we had sent for maintenance and repair were not returned to us for three years just because we stood by the Turkish Cypriots. What is more, Turkey was forced by its allies to pay docking fees for these planes.”

Noting that Turkey encountered many situations that are incompatible with the spirit of the alliance during its fight against terror spanning almost four decades, Erdoğan pointed out that weapons that Turkey was denied were delivered to terrorists in Syria under the guise of fight against DAESH. “Our so-called friends spared no efforts to undermine us during the cross-border operations we conducted to ensure our citizens' security of life. Ringleaders of the terrorist organization were welcomed on red carpets at the highest level as if they were legitimate politicians. We see similar steps being taken today as well. While regretfully following this hypocrisy towards our country, we also speed up our preparations.” (ILKHA)