Ahmet Salih Alacacı
January 13, 2019•Update: January 14, 2019
By Ahmet Salih Alacaci
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Ankara’s cooperation with Qatar will continue to strengthen in various sectors including defense, trade, tourism energy.
“We have never forgotten and will never forget the solidarity displayed to our country by our Qatari brothers on nearly all issues -- from the July 15 coup attempt to the attacks in August on [our] exchange rates [Turkish lira],” Erdogan said, speaking at a meeting of automotive manufacturer BMC in Turkey’s northwestern province of Sakarya.
Underlining that the partnership between the two countries is based on a “win-win” model, Erdogan said that Ankara and Doha consolidated their friendship with every “calamity” they faced.
Erdogan underlined that Turkey’s progress would continue in its defense industry, which he said had more than halved its foreign dependence -- from 80 percent in 2002 to 35 percent at present.
“Turkey’s military capacity and economic, political and diplomatic capabilities should be robust,” he said, adding that the deterrence of its defense sector had to be “particularly” high.
In a separate rally in Sakarya, Erdogan underlined his government’s support for local entrepreneurs in the defense sector.
"Believe me, were it not for our armed and unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ships, artillery, missiles, armored vehicles, communications systems software, they would not allow us even to ," he said.
Erdogan also reiterated that education, health, justice security will be the priorities of his administration.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkey's cooperation with Qatar will continue to strengthen in various sectors including defense, trade, tourism energy.
“We have never forgotten and will never forget the solidarity shown to our country by our Qatari brothers on nearly all issues -- from the July 15 coup attempt to the attacks in August on [our] exchange rates [Turkish lira],” Erdogan said, speaking at a meeting of automotive manufacturer BMC in Turkey’s northwestern province of Sakarya.
Erdogan underlined that Turkey’s progress would continue in the defense industry which he said had more than halved its foreign dependence from 80 percent in 2002 to 35 percent at present.
“Turkey’s military capacity and economic, political and diplomatic capabilities must be robust,” he said, adding that the deterrence of its defense sector had to be “particularly” high.
