Türkiye, UAE hold talks for defense industry cooperation

By Mustafa Calkaya

ANKARA (AA) – A series of conferences on developing defense industry cooperation between Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates was held during the visit to the Gulf state of Haluk Gorgun, the head of Türkiye’s Defense Industry Agency.

Gorgun on Wednesday said officials from Turkish firms took part in a conference in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 30-31 to boost defense industry cooperation, saying:

“Here in Abu Dhabi, our friends, mainly the end users of the Naval Forces and the Air Force, and especially the managers and technical personnel of our companies, talked about 80 predetermined items, as our collaborations with the UAE rose with the visit of our president (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) in 2023,” said Gorgun.

"With the vision and motivation put forth by both the emir and our president, everyone in our defense industry and ecosystem tried to produce results with their best efforts.”

He stressed that the conference was beneficial for all parties, as there are already sales in the works between the two countries, saying it is “an achievement” of Türkiye to hear “the satisfaction of users doing business with Türkiye.”

During his visit to the UAE, Gorgun held a series of conferences with emirati officials and private sector representatives.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim from Istanbul