🔶 Germany and Turkey intend to cooperate in the production and trade of arms

Cooperation between Germany and Turkey in the production and trade of arms and other military equipment has so far been relatively limited, but economic players from the two countries, at the “Fourth Economic Conference of Germany and Turkey” in Ankara, are trying to expand these collaborations.

The radar-stealth fighter “Kaan” carried out its first test flight in February 2024. This is a Turkey-made fighter, but its engine is still purchased from the United States.

Turkey’s defense industries have made remarkable progress in recent years. The well-known combat and reconnaissance drone “Bayraktar” is no longer the only successful export product from this country. Guided missiles and warships have also become popular export products for Turkey. These developments have attracted companies and countries such as Germany, which invest in the arms sector.

For years, Germany faced difficulties in exporting arms to Turkey. For Berlin, “Turkey’s aggressive actions against its neighbors and the crackdown on critics at home” were more important than cooperation between the two countries in NATO.

Turkey’s weapons systems now have competitiveness at the international level and have become attractive to allied countries, including Germany. For this reason, the fourth Economic Conference of Germany and Turkey in Ankara has focused in particular on cooperation in the defense and security industries.

Florian Gleise from the German company “Renk” traveled to Ankara to take part in the fourth conference of the two countries. The Renk company, whose headquarters is in the German city of Augsburg, is one of the major companies in the defense industry and, among other things, produces the gearbox for the “Leopard 2” tank.

In the past, the company exported its products to Turkey, but later the German government imposed restrictions on exports. Gleise says that since then, many developments have taken place in Turkey and that the relationship between the two sides is no longer simply a buyer-seller relationship, but is moving toward partnership. According to Gleise, German companies have technical expertise and Turkey has production capacity; therefore, both sides want to cooperate with each other.