German-Turkish Defence Industry Collaboration - Quo Vadis?

摘要

Parallel to the development of a local defence industry and the creation of new domestic capabilities, as well as the high number of countries located in the Middle East, Eurasia, North Africa, and the Near- and Far East, the Turkish defence industry has turned into an attractive partner for arms manufacturers, who wish to establish a strategic partnership with Turkish companies for both the national and international market. European countries such as Italy, the UK, Norway, and Sweden believe that working with the Turkish defence industry can bring mutual benefit and create new opportunities in both their countries and other markets. They have been increasing their efforts to enhance cooperation between the industries and to explore opportunities to establish partnerships in the defence sector for sales to third countries, constituting a potential market for Turkish defence exports. During the last four years leading defence companies from those countries have opened liaison offices in Ankara, and have organised several defence industry partnership events and meetings with local companies. They also performed reciprocal cooperation visits under the auspices of the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM).