ISTANBUL
Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek on Tuesday said, "Peace may be important for all but it is more important for our region. In a region where women, children, elderly and all humans are killed without mercy and the world didn't put in any effort other than wishing for peace, obviously the defense industry is vital for Turkey."
Cicek delivered a speech at the opening of the 11th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF'13) held at TUYAP Fair and Congress Center in Istanbul.
Cicek stated that Turkey was always supportive of peace and whenever the contribution of Turkey was necessary in any part of the world to establish peace, Turkey had always responded positively.
"We have lived in peace for the longest period since the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Over 200 wars have taken place during the 600 year of Ottoman rule. We continue our existence in a very unstable region and critic geography. Therefore, peace may be important for all but it is more important for our region. In a region where women, children, elderly and all humans are killed without mercy and the world didn't put in any effort other than wishing peace, obviously the defense industry is vital for Turkey," Cicek said.
"Consequently, it is obvious that we require Turkish Armed Forces using high technology, a deterrent force to establish peace," Cicek added.
Turkish Minister of National Defense Ismet Yilmaz also delivered a speech at the opening of IDEF'13 and said, "Our main target in the defense industry is developing our own products in the areas prioritized and structure it to allow competition in the international arena."
"We are managing important projects under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense. Our main target in the defense industry since the 2000s is developing our own products in the areas prioritized and structure it to allow competition in the international arena. Concrete results of this policy is visible by the increasing success each year," Yilmaz said.
Yilmaz also stated that the total exports of the defense and aviation industry were 1.28 billion dollars in 2012.
Stating that armoured vehicles, coast guard boats, night vision systems and many other defense systems were produced by the Turkish defense industry at international standards, Yilmaz said, "The existence of foreign institutions willing to invest in Turkey is important in bringing in technologies not present in our country alongside the Turkish private sector. Our support to firms aiming to invest in this field will continue. Our aim is to create cost effective projects and peak cooperation works. This way we will also contribute to international peace."
