Turkey's defence industry highlighted at Ankara NATO summit

Vice‑President Cevdet Yılmaz told 24 TV after the NATO summit in Ankara that the alliance is regaining momentum and that Europe’s defence spending is rising, with the EU’s €800 billion SAFE programme and national budgets expanding. He said more than 80 % of the equipment used by the Turkish Armed Forces is domestically produced, Turkey now ranks 11th in global arms exports and expects to break into the top‑10, with defence sales exceeding $11 billion in the latest 12‑month period.

Yılmaz noted that the summit incorporated the Defence Industry Forum for the first time, underscoring the sector’s growing strategic importance. Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek echoed the message, linking the defence‑industry success to a broader push for high‑tech, value‑added production across the Turkish economy. Nationalist MP Mustafa Kalaycı used the event to claim Turkey is becoming a “leader country” in defence, while the furniture federation’s president Hüseyin Taklacı warned that the summit’s 70‑trillion‑dollar network of NATO members opens new export routes for Turkish wood products.

Overall, Turkish officials portrayed the Ankara summit as a diplomatic and economic win that raises Turkey’s international profile and cements its role as a central player in NATO’s European security architecture.