Global Courant
BRUSSELS
NATO defense ministers met with representatives of various defense industry companies, including Turkey, in Brussels on the sidelines of the two-day meeting.
Representatives of 26 defense companies from the USA and Europe were invited to Brussels, where Turkey was represented by the Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler.
The meeting was held on Thursday at the margin of a NATO defense ministers meeting, which focused on increasing support for Ukraine and strengthening deterrence and defense amid an ongoing war with Russia.
Defense ministers are also preparing for the NATO leaders’ summit to be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on 11-12 July.
While the companies invited from Turkey were Baykar and Roketsan, CEOs Haluk Bayraktar and Murat Iki represented the companies at the reception, respectively.
During the meetings, issues such as increasing production, ensuring supply chain continuity and increasing cooperation were discussed.
Ukraine and the EU also attended the meeting.
Baykar CEO: Defense industry needs real growth in expenditures
Bayraktar made a statement on his Twitter account, “We shared our thoughts on the future of our industry at the meeting, which aims to support the cooperation of NATO members to increase their defense production capacity.”
Baykar CEO pointed out that while global defense expenditures are increasing, NATO’s share in expenditures is gradually decreasing.
He said NATO has lost 10% of its share of spending to China, Russia and India over the past 20 years, but that its spending has “only grown modestly 2% in real terms since 2000”.
The defense industry, which supports the understanding of global security, needs real growth in new capacity, planning and investment expenditures.
The second expressed his pleasure to be one of the representatives of the Turkish defense industry in Brussels.
We have no doubt that Turkey’s breakthroughs in the field of defense are as valuable for our country as it is for the allied countries.
Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged allies to increase defense production.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the weapons stocks of some NATO members are decreasing due to military support to Ukraine.
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