Increasing Turkish Armed Forces deterrence capabilities ‘no choice but necessity,’ says president

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) – Strengthening the Turkish Armed Forces is a must for Türkiye to be a powerful country, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

"We know very well from our bitter experiences that there cannot be a strong Türkiye without a strong army. Increasing the deterrence of the Turkish Armed Forces constitutes a necessity for our country rather than a choice," Erdogan said at a ceremony at the Army War College in the capital Ankara.

It is indispensable to have a strong, modern, and disciplined army with high deterrence, he added.

"We have taken many historical steps that will strengthen our army. We literally wrote an epic in the field of defense industry," Erdogan said, adding that Türkiye has been elevated to the "top league" in terms of military capabilities.

"Hopefully, we will soon come to the point of selling air defense systems to those who refuse to give us air defense systems on unfounded excuses," the president said.

Touching on the Türkiye's indigenous fighter jet KAAN, Erdogan said: "Hopefully, we will see our aircraft take off before the end of 2023."