Osman Okyay, SASAD (Defense and Aerospace Industry Manufacturers Association) Chairman has underlied that Turkey has now reached a point where importers are waiting for it whereas it was a country that waiting at the door of international suppliers in the past. He also stated that the interest and participation of industry stakeholders for IDEF is constantly developing and growing.

C4Defence: IDEF 2021 takes place with great participation at a time of high global constraints in all sectors. What is the message of the Turkish defense industry to the world with IDEF?

SASAD Chairman Osman Okyay: Turkish Defense and Aviation Industry is among the top 10 developed countries in the defense industry in the world with its recent breakthroughs. Turkey has proven that it can effectively meet the needs of its armed forces from national and domestic sources in its cross-border operations for the security of the country, and with this development it has started to attract the attention of all advanced countries. At IDEF’21, sector companies try to increase their exports and cooperation with other country industrialists by demonstrating their national and domestic platforms, systems and capabilities. Turkey is now considered one of the developed countries in the defense and aviation sector. In the fair, with the domestic and national systems used in operations, in a way, it says “I am in” in this race. It continues its search for cooperation by introducing the systems that are still in the project phase and expects to receive orders going forward. Another important message is that Turkey has a strong technological infrastructure and supply chain with its participating companies and SMEs. It will strive to establish cooperation by introducing this strong SME capability to advanced country industrialists.

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