Turkey is on the brink of shifting its stance from purchasing air defense systems from other nations to becoming a vendor of its own systems.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announced this transformative shift during his address at the Military Academy in Ankara.
"Our successful testing of the Siper long-range air defense system marks a turning point. In the near future, Turkey will emerge as a supplier of these systems to those who previously refrained from selling them to us, citing various reasons," he stated.
It's understood that the reference was aimed at the United States. This shift arises from Turkey's protracted negotiations to acquire the Patriot system from the US, which yielded no fruitful outcomes.
Siper, which translates to "trench" in Turkish, signifies a sophisticated long-range anti-aircraft missile system engineered to neutralize aerial threats of all kinds.
"Our defense industry's prowess has propelled our nation to a new echelon. We are eagerly anticipating the inaugural flight of our domestically developed fighter aircraft, KAAN, later this year. Moreover, we're committed to finalizing the testing phase of the Bayraktar Kızılelma drone and delivering it to our armed forces," Erdogan shared.
He also emphasized that Turkey remains steadfast in nurturing a formidable and modern military capability.
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