\u200b\u200bPresident Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan announced that Turkey\u2019s dependency on foreign defense supplies, once as high as 70 percent, has now dropped to 30 percent.<\/p>\n
Attending the inauguration ceremony of Roketsan\u2019s satellite launch on August 30, President Erdo\u011fan delivered a speech to the audience. He underlined Turkey\u2019s surging domestic production and falling imports in the defense industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept ramping up our domestic production, following a policy to cease procurement of defense supplies from the international-market if we can produce them domestically. In 2002, there were 62 ongoing defense-projects in Turkey. Today, that figure is verging on 700. In the past 5 years, we have launched nearly 350 projects,” President Erdo\u011fan said.<\/p>\n
“In 2002, the total budget of the defense projects was USD 5.5 billion. Today, the project volume has jumped to USD 60 billion. During that period, the number of defense contractors has risen from 56 to 1,500. In 2002, the turnover of the defense industry was USD 1 billion, rising even higher to USD 11 billion in 2019,\u201d stressed President Erdo\u011fan.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Turkey\u2019s ongoing defense projects, President Erdo\u011fan further highlighted that Turkey’s first homegrown maritime missile, Atmaca, will be deployed by the Turkish Armed Forces by the end of 2020. On a different note, the President revealed that Turkey’s Micro-Satellite Launch System (MSLS) slated for completion by 2025.<\/p>\n
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