Türkiye is willing to cooperate with Japan in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, stressing that joint development and production could offer significant opportunities to both countries.
Speaking to Japan’s Nikkei Asia, Fidan highlighted Türkiye’s emergence as a major drone producer, saying that Ankara is eager to deepen defense-industrial relations with Tokyo.
"Türkiye and Japan have complementary capabilities, and we believe there is strong potential for mutually beneficial collaboration,” he said.
The foreign minister stressed that Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle or drone technologies have proven themselves in different operational environments and could offer valuable opportunities for joint development and co-production with Japan.
“In aviation, particularly in unmanned aerial systems and anti-drone technologies, Türkiye has developed advanced and field-tested capabilities that could provide a strong basis for collaboration,” the minister said.
Fidan also said progress had been made in negotiations on a social security agreement between the two countries, expressing hope that an agreement could be reached in the near future.
Untapped cooperation potential between Ankara, Tokyo
Pointing to broader areas of cooperation, Fidan said there remains significant untapped potential between Türkiye and Japan in energy, digital transformation, aerospace technologies, robotics and resilient supply chains.
Addressing critical minerals in Türkiye, he said Ankara’s strategic objective extends beyond extraction and focuses on producing high-value intermediate and final products.
"Strategic objective is not simply extraction, but producing high-value-added intermediate and end products. In that sense, cooperation with Japanese technology and investment could create a true win-win partnership, and we are ready to work closely with Japan in this field as well,” Fidan said.
Iran-US deal ‘closer than ever’
Commenting on ongoing negotiations between Iran and the US, Fidan said that the “both sides want to reach a positive conclusion. An agreement is closer than ever."
Following the ceasefire reached between the US, Israel and Iran, attention has shifted to the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
He stated that the de facto blockade of Hormuz is "putting too much pressure on both" the US and Iran, and stressed that "the international impact -- including on energy security, food security, and rising prices -- is immense.”
"This has become a situation that takes priority over the nuclear files,” Fidan said.
Responding to a question about US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and other regional countries to join the Abraham Accords, Fidan noted that Türkiye had maintained historical and commercial ties with Israel before Oct. 7, 2023.
He stressed that Ankara made it very clear “when we stopped the trade, Israel must stop killing Palestinians and must stop preventing Gazans from having access to basic human needs such as food, shelter, medicine, water. If these are met, we can go back to normal life, no problem. We want to achieve a two-state solution."
Asked about statements by Israeli politicians portraying Türkiye as a future strategic threat, Fidan said: “In Israeli domestic politics, unfortunately, they need an enemy to make politics all the time to conduct their regional ambitions. But everybody knows Israel is not after its security, but after more land.”
The minister also underscored that the international community should "prevent Israel to further destabilize not only the regional order but the global order as well."
Fidan underlined the importance of a broader vision of stability based on a cooperative regional platform, saying all countries in the region should respect each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and security.
He said recent history offered a “golden opportunity” for cooperation among countries including Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Gulf states, adding that "when things come normal, maybe Iran should also be part of it."
He said Israel could eventually join as well if it recognizes a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, adding: "If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too."
NATO summit preparations
Fidan said Türkiye hopes to host leaders and defense ministers from NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, at the alliance’s summit scheduled for July in Ankara, provided all allies agree.
Asked about the possibility of US President Donald Trump attending the summit, Fidan said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had spoken with Trump several times and that the US president had never indicated he would not attend.
"So far, all our preparations are in a way to accommodate President Trump,” he said.
