Erdoğan: Türkiye now world’s 11th-largest defense exporter

Speaking at TEKNOFEST in Şanlıurfa, the Turkish president said defense exports rose 16.2% to $6.3 billion in January–August.

The Turkiye Times Editorial DeskOctober 03, 2026, 05:00 PMUpdated: October 03, 2026, 09:06 PM

Erdoğan: Türkiye now world’s 11th-largest defense exporter

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at TEKNOFEST Southeast in Şanlıurfa that Türkiye, once 80% dependent on foreign suppliers for defense, is now the world’s 11th-largest defense exporter. He said defense and aerospace exports reached $511.4 million in August and $6.3 billion in January–August, up 16.2% year-on-year, compared with just $248 million a year when his government took office.

Erdoğan said more than 4,500 companies and over 100,000 people work on air, land, sea and space projects coordinated by the Defense Industry Agency. Noting that Türkiye also helps meet the defense needs of friendly countries when they request it, he said Türkiye grows stronger as its friends grow stronger.

Describing Şanlıurfa as the "city of prophets" and a fitting host for TEKNOFEST given its historical heritage, Erdoğan recalled scholars such as al-Battani, Sinan ibn Thabit, Ibn Wasif of Harran and Yunus al-Harrani, and mentioned Göbeklitepe. Noting that applications have grown every year since the competitions began with 4,333 teams in 2018, he said young people would heal the wounds of regions with which Türkiye has bonds of the heart, from Palestine to Lebanon and from Yemen to Libya, through the products and projects they develop.

Erdoğan greets young people at the festival area at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport