Turkey has invested $35 bln in defense industry in 15 years: PM Yıldırım

ANKARA

State investment in the defense industry has exceeded $35 billion in the past 15 years, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said. 

“We have made investments worth $35 billion over 15 years and we are now an exporter country in the field of the defense industry. The volume of our exports is over $2 billion,” Yıldırım said in an address at the National Defense University on March 2. 

“Our state continues to provide all sorts of technological opportunities for the Turkish Armed Forces. And we will continue to do so,” he added. 

The government aims to strengthen national defense through locally made hi-tech defense systems, which is why it supports research and development projects, the prime minister stressed. 

Around 65 percent of Turkey’s national defense equipment needs were procured through its own resources, up from 24 percent when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) first came to power in 2002, Yıldırım said. 

“We have begun to build a great deal of our own defense equipment, including helicopters, planes, warships, tanks, air defense systems, satellites, and unmanned aerial weapons. In this way, we can equip our land, air and naval forces with our own tanks, planes and weapon systems,” he added. 

Prime Minister Yıldırım also touched on the ongoing “Operation Olive Branch” into the northern Syrian district of Afrin, reiterating that it will continue until all terrorists are eliminated. 

“It should not be forgotten that the scope of our operations is not limited with Afrin,” he said.