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Türkiye exports<br />
defense industry<br />
products to<br />
185 countries<br />
<strong>February</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
Türkiye has increased its annual exports of defense<br />
industry products by 27 percent in the year 2023, the<br />
head of the defense industry presidency has said,<br />
informing that around 230 different products were sold<br />
to 185 countries in the world.<br />
Turkish Defense Industries President Haluk Görgün<br />
evaluated the performance of his agency in 2023<br />
and informed the targets set for <strong>2024</strong> at a meeting<br />
with Ankara bureau chiefs of the media outlets in the<br />
Turkish capital on January 12.<br />
“I can say that we have fully achieved the targets set<br />
for 2023 in every field,” Görgün stressed, informing that<br />
one of the efficient ways to measure the success of his<br />
agency is the exports of defense industry products.<br />
“In the year 2023, we have broken the record in terms<br />
of the exports of the defense industry products. Our<br />
defense industry exports increased by 27 percent<br />
compared to 2022 and reached a total of $5.5 billion,”<br />
Görgün stated. He also informed that new contracts<br />
with a total value exceeding $10 billion were also<br />
signed in 2023.<br />
“This is the reflection of the confidence towards our<br />
defense industry,” he underlined, describing the<br />
growing Turkish defense industry as the rising star of<br />
Türkiye.<br />
Görgün recalled that the Turkish defense industry<br />
products were sold to 170 countries in 2022 and that<br />
this number increased to 185 countries in the past<br />
year. “We are exporting around 230 different defense<br />
industry products,” he said.<br />
Türkiye has become one of the top exporters of drones<br />
and armed drones in recent years as these products<br />
have proven their quality in both Türkiye and in the<br />
countries they are being used.<br />
“For us, the fact that our products are being sold<br />
and efficiently used by our friends and allies is good<br />
evidence of the success of our industry,” he stated.<br />
Türkiye is among five countries that can produce<br />
advanced armed drones and among 10 countries<br />
that can produce submarines and other sea vessels,<br />
Görgün recalled. “We are of the opinion that<br />
Türkiye’s deterrence in the face of the changes in the<br />
geopolitical balances can only be possible through a<br />
strong and national defense industry capacity.”<br />
There will be many good news stories regarding the<br />
defense industry achievements in the year <strong>2024</strong>,<br />
Görgün vowed, informing that Türkiye’s first indigenous<br />
fifth-generation fighter jet, KAAN, will perform its first<br />
flight.<br />
“KAAN will soon take off. But, at the same time, we<br />
have already started our works for the sixth generation<br />
warplanes,” Görgün said, adding that KAAN will use<br />
the engines to be fully developed and produced by<br />
national resources.<br />
On a question, Görgün announced that Türkiye has<br />
suspended its demand to supply drone cameras<br />
from Canada, which has been imposing arms sale<br />
restrictions to the former. “We have suspended this<br />
process. We are producing much better ones, and very<br />
soon the serial production of the drone cameras will<br />
begin this month,” the president said.<br />
Türkiye has already been producing an older fashion<br />
of these cameras and was exporting them to 15<br />
countries, he recalled, stressing that the new ones will<br />
be one of the best being used in the world.<br />
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