As the premier organization for defense exporters in Turkey, what makes Turkey’s defense sector attractive to foreign governments and companies?

The defense industry in Turkey is a relatively young sector, but it is one of the fastest-growing sectors. Over the past 50 years, the industry has achieved great success, particularly in the last decade, making it one of Turkey’s strongest. The industry is critical not only for Turkey but also for the world, and its attractiveness stems from its integrated structure, which contains both military and civil components. The sector has a wide logistical network that covers all stages from design to production, involving small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to lobbies. Furthermore, the Defense and Aerospace Industry Exporters’ Association (SSI) is increasing its sectoral efficiency, and the participation of companies operating in civil aviation, security, and maintenance and repair is vital to meeting their goals. The industry’s success also depends on international cooperation, which is crucial and indispensable.

What activities does SSI undertake to support Turkey’s relationship with the international aerospace and defense market?

SSI understands that it is not easy to survive in an environment with such tough competition and exist in the vendor/supplier list. Therefore, SSI conducts efficient activities for the promotion of the sector and will continue to do so. The term ‘export’ undergirds the sustainability and strength of the sector, so they are striving in all available environments to increase recognition and awareness of Turkey’s export capacities. To achieve this, the Defense and Aerospace Support and Promotion Group of the Turkish Defense Alliance (TDA) was established in 2013, which has been working to establish a global Turkish brand in the defense industry. The TDA has also been serving as an intermediate agency that promotes Turkish companies. In cooperation with Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), they organize national participations in international defense industry exhibitions, which gathers the whole sector, and bilateral negotiations between delegations are conducted between government officials and military representatives. The exhibitor companies are quite sensitive about these negotiations, as strategic partnerships and cooperation among countries play a significant role in procurements. Therefore, the number of participant companies, and hence Turkish defense and aerospace industry’s efficiency, has been increasing. For this reason, they are continuing to participate in international, prestigious events organized towards target markets.

Given the high value-added nature of its products, increased research and development (R&D) investments, and sizable employment, how will the defense industry take its success to the world market? Will the industry be able to transfer this success into reaching the 2023 goals of exporting $25 billion dollars?

The Turkish defense and aerospace industry has gained considerable impetus in exports, especially in the last few years. They are “producing in Turkey, becoming a brand in the world,” and the defense sector is growing as a result of the intensive R&D activities and great technological investments. The industry is now capable of exporting a considerable proportion of its production. In such a competitive area, they are taking steps towards becoming a brand in the defense and aerospace industry and increasing their market share. Their goal is to exist among the major global suppliers of the defense industry. As a country that manufactures its satellites, unmanned air vehicles, training aircraft, helicopters, infantry rifles, battleships, armored vehicles, missiles, and rocket systems, they develop simulations and software, build partnerships in worldwide projects such as F35, A400M, construct satellite manufacturing and test centers, initiate satellite-launcher base construction, and launch indigenous helicopter projects. They are able to reach these goals because of their qualified human resources, research institutes, R&D laboratories, SMEs, and major companies.