NATO chief praises Türkiye's defence industry

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte used a two-day visit to Ankara this week to cast Türkiye’s defence industry as a model for the alliance’s military buildup. (nato.int) Rutte visited Türkiye on April 21-22, met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defence Minister Yasar Guler, and toured an ASELSAN technology base in Ankara. NATO said he told engineers that allies need to “produce together, to innovate together, and to buy from each other.” (nato.int) Erdogan’s office said the talks centered on preparations for the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, the alliance agenda, and regional and global developments. Erdogan said Türkiye is expanding its defence industry, “particularly in air defense systems,” and wants deeper cooperation with allied countries in that field. (aa.com.tr) The visit landed less than three months before NATO’s next summit, scheduled for July 7-8, 2026, at the Beştepe Presidential Compound in Ankara. NATO announced the venue in August 2025 and said it will be Türkiye’s second time hosting a summit after Istanbul in 2004. (nato.int) Rutte tied the factory stop directly to NATO’s wider push to make more weapons and equipment inside the alliance. Bloomberg reported on April 22 that he has been urging allies to ramp up joint defence production and make industrial capacity a central issue at the Ankara summit. (bloomberg.com) Türkiye enters that debate with a larger domestic arms sector than it had a decade ago. Defence News reported that Turkish defence exports reached a record $7.1 billion in 2024, up from $5.5 billion in 2023, with sales to 180 countries and a growing mix of drones, warships and electronic-warfare systems. (defensenews.com) ASELSAN, the company Rutte visited, sits near the center of that expansion. Its 2024 annual report describes it as a defence electronics producer with systems spanning radar, electronic warfare, avionics, guidance and air-defence technologies. (aselsan.com) Türkiye’s military weight inside NATO gives that industrial message extra force. NATO said in November 2024 that Türkiye has the alliance’s second-largest army and spends more than 2% of gross domestic product on defence. (nato.int) Erdogan used the meeting to press a broader political point alongside the production pitch. According to Anadolu Agency, he said the trans-Atlantic bond remains indispensable and argued that excluding non-European Union allies from European defence initiatives would “not serve the intended purpose.” (aa.com.tr) By the time allied leaders gather in Ankara on July 7, the host country will be trying to show that its factories are as important to NATO’s plans as its geography and armed forces. Rutte’s stop at ASELSAN turned that argument into the headline of his visit. (nato.int)