NATO deputy chief hails Türkiye’s defense industry as long-running revolution

NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska said Türkiye’s defense industry offers "excellent examples," describing what she called a de facto industrial revolution that has been under way for years, not just recently.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska praised Türkiye’s defense industry while speaking at the Türkiye-EU Business Summit in Brussels, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and the European Business Summit (EBS).

Speaking on a panel titled "NATO and Europe: Security Architecture after the Ankara Summit" alongside Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Basat Öztürk, she said: "We have excellent examples in the Turkish defense industry, because here we have been witnessing a kind of industrial revolution not just in the last few years but for much longer."

$50 billion in contracts at the Ankara Summit

Baykar’s Kizilelma unmanned fighter jet (file photo)

Shekerinska recalled that the NATO Summit held in Ankara on July 7-8 focused on turning the defense spending commitments made in The Hague into concrete capabilities, with the key message of "a stronger Europe in a stronger Alliance."

She said roughly $50 billion in contracts were announced and signed in Ankara, alongside a $38 billion increase in production capacity, stressing that the goal is not only to spend more but to acquire the capabilities allies need.

Over $250 billion in extra spending

European allies and Canada have added more than $250 billion for defense in 2025 and 2026, she said, calling it a "rational response" to a changing security environment. Industrial capacity provides a strategic advantage in protracted conflicts, she added, although total production capacity has yet to reach its target.

Shekerinska also said Russia is trying to erode support for Ukraine through hybrid methods such as attacks on infrastructure, airspace violations and sabotage, and that the war has underlined the importance of AI-enabled systems and counter-drone solutions.

NATO deputy chief hails Türkiye’s defense industry as long-running revolution