Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler and Minister of Internal Affairs Ali Yerlikaya attended the "Manned Aerial Platforms Projects Signing Ceremony". Along with Minister Yaşar Güler, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, Land Forces Commander General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, Air Forces Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu and Deputy Minister Bilal Durdalı also attended the ceremony hosted by Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün.
Making a speech at the ceremony, Minister Yaşar Güler said:
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO HAVE A FULLY INDEPENDENT DEFENSE INDUSTRY
“I would especially like to express my pleasure in being with you on the occasion of the Manned Aerial Platform Projects Ceremony, which are the source of pride of our country and the favorite products of our local and national defense industry.
I hope that our air platforms, which are mass produced and added to the inventory of our glorious army, will be beneficial and auspicious for our country, our noble nation and the Turkish Armed Forces.
Our country, surrounded by a ring of fire, is obliged to produce its own warfare weapons and systems and have an effective and strong army equipped with local and national defense industry products in order to exist in this geography. For an army with these qualifications, it is indispensable for us to have a self-sufficient, fully independent defense industry.
Because it is not possible for countries that are not strong and independent in the field of defense industry to assume active roles in the international arena and look to their future with confidence. Just looking at our recent history, unfortunately we had to experience the problems of foreign dependency in the defense industry many times. Since we could not produce many important defense industry products with our own means for years, we always waited from outsiders. The obstacles that our allies and even our strategic partners put in front of us when we needed them the most are etched in our state memory as a bitter experience. Undoubtedly, these never discouraged us; On the contrary, it motivated him more.
VALUABLE PROJECTS WERE IMPLEMENTED UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR PRESIDENT
With the domestic and national technology move initiated with the leadership and incentives of our President, our country has implemented valuable projects in the field of defense industry in the last 20 years. In this context, the opportunities and capabilities of our army have improved tremendously compared to previous years, with the defense industry products that we develop day by day, featuring domestic, national and modern technology; continues recording.
These weapon systems, which strengthen the power of our army and our country, have also been exported to many brother, friendly and allied countries.
As a matter of fact, we see with great satisfaction that the demand for our products, whose effectiveness has been clearly demonstrated in the conflicts in Karabakh, Libya and Ukraine, is increasing day by day in the world market. Türkiye is now a brand that is praised all over the world with the weapons, ammunition and systems it produces. As a result, our country, which struggled for existence against those who attempted to invade our country a century ago, is today; With its ever-growing economy, strong army and constantly developing defense industry, it has reached an effective level that has a say in its region and the world. On this occasion, I would like to once again express my gratitude to our President, who has made our country one of the countries that has a say in the field of defense industry, as in every field, with his vision and goals.
WE ARE TAKING MAJOR LEAVES TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OUR SKIES
Especially the recent conflicts that have taken place in our nearby geography have once again shown that air platforms are systems that must be addressed first and developed in a multi-dimensional manner in ensuring the security of the country. Fortunately, our local and national defense industry, which has implemented valuable and critical projects, is making great strides in aircraft that will best ensure the safety of our skies, as well as on land and at sea.
In this context, in addition to our armed/unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles and ammunition that have been produced so far and have served with great success;
– Our new generation advanced basic training and light attack aircraft, “HÜRKUŞ”,
– Our jet training aircraft “HÜRJET”, which can perform a wide range of missions with superior performance,
– With our general purpose helicopter “GÖKBEY”, which is capable of performing versatile missions in the most challenging conditions
– KAAN, our 5th generation, first local-national warplane, which demonstrates the superior level reached by our defense industry, is the most concrete signs of our country's great breakthroughs in air platforms.
With all this, Türkiye; It has now become one of the few countries in the world that can produce its own warplanes, training and jet planes, and helicopters. The production of all these systems, especially KAAN, has been a dream of our state and nation for years. We worked hard for this and today, thankfully, these dreams are coming true. We can't be more proud of this.
THESE SYSTEMS ARE THE HERALD OF MANY LARGE PROJECTS
Considering the current technological developments and the range of threats that continue to increase day by day, the importance of these projects is better understood. With the mass production and inventory of all these air platforms, our Air Force, the indomitable protector of our skies, will protect our rights and interests more strongly; The effectiveness and deterrence of our army will increase further.
These systems, which are the embodied symbols of our "Turkey Century" goals, are the harbinger of many more large and successful projects that will contribute to our country in the field of aviation. We; We are aware that we have to constantly go further and produce more advanced products.
With this understanding, the second century of our Republic; We will continue to work with all our strength to make it the century of defence, development and production, and to write new achievements on the golden pages of our history. I believe that all of our air platforms, especially our national aircraft KAAN, will go into mass production in a short time and take their place in our skies, with the intense efforts of the Turkish defense industry family, especially our Presidency of Defense Industries and TAI.
I hope that our air platforms, which are our national pride, will once again bring good luck to our country, our noble nation and our heroic army. I would like to thank the distinguished personnel of our relevant institutions and organizations, especially TAI, and all our stakeholders, who contributed to all stages of the projects from design to production.
I greet you once again with love and respect. Stay well.”