Türkiye’s Hürjet and ‘Kaan’ show off on runway

ANKARA

Türkiye’s national combat aircraft has been named “KAAN,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 1 and noted that Türkiye would be one of the five countries producing fifth generation warplanes.

“This was a historic day for Turkish aviation. Hürjet and the National Combat Aircraft ‘KAAN,’ one of the great achievements of the defense industry, walked together on the runway,” the president said at the “Century of the Future” program in Ankara.

The eponym of the National Combat Aircraft “KAAN” was Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli, the president explained.

Stressing that these were historical days in the field of defense and aviation, Erdoğan said, “We took our national combat aircraft out of the hangar and made it to the runway.”

Hürjet will soon join the inventory of Turkish Air Forces, he also said and added, “We will also deploy Hürjet to our TCG Anadolu Ship. It will be able to partially replace our F-16s by equipping it with our weapons and our radars.”

“Hürjet, which we started to produce for friendly and allied countries, has already turned into an international platform. We are soon supplying the first products to Niger and Chad,” the president explained.

In a few years, Türkiye will complete all the tests and deliver KAAN to its Air Forces, he said. “We will be one of the five countries producing fifth generation warplanes,” he stated.

Bayraktar Kızılelma made its maiden flight, Erdoğan said and noted that ANKA 3 will also make its first flight in the coming days.

The national combat aircraft will take its first flight in 2025 and join the fleet of the Turkish Air Force in 2029.

Erdoğan said they had announced “good news” in the defense industry in the past months. “There is the joining of our TCG Anadolu Ship to the navy, the launch of İMECE into space, the delivery of our Altay Tank to the Turkish Armed Forces for testing, the Gökbey helicopter flying with a domestic engine and the firing of torpedoes from an unmanned sea vehicle,” he said.

Türkiye now demonstrates “in every field on land, at sea and under the submarine, in the air and space,” he stated.

“Today, we have reached the results that are the symbols of the future, which Gazi Mustafa Kemal pointed to by saying, ‘The future is in the skies.’ That’s why we call it ‘The Future’ today,” Erdoğan continued.

Türkiye’s defense industry was “hindered by the incompetence of some governments and the non-nationality of others during the first 80 years,” of the Republic, the president stated.

HH President vows to increase wages of civil servants

Erdoğan also pledged to make a new rise in the wages of civil servants in July and said, “We will keep our promise not to crush our officers with inflation.”

“We made a raise for our employees over 30 percent. We increased the lowest civil servant salary to 12,000 Turkish Liras. In July, we will make an arrangement that takes into account the increase in inflation, along with the welfare share,” he stated.

“We are making the biggest appointments in the history of the Republic,” he said. “We have fulfilled the demands of our 2 million brothers who are waiting for retirement age. We made the lowest pension to 7,500 liras and the holiday bonuses to 2,000 liras,” he said.

Erdoğan pledged to announce a new increase for pensioners. “We will share the news that will delight our citizens, who receive a salary over 7,500 liras in pension after the work is over,” he said.

The May 14 polls will not only be a vote between alliances, but a vote for “two different futures, two different societies,” and state understanding, he said.

“The People’s Alliance is not LGBT. Have you heard a word on behalf of LGBT in the disgrace alliance, which is now called the Nation Alliance? Because they argue,” Erdoğan said.