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AVIATION and SPACE Organized Industrial Zone to be Built in Ankara

ozi2000

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Turkey invests in aviation technologies to boost defense industry

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan, who donned a flight jacket, gives a thumbs-up from the cockpit of Turkey's first domestically produced training jet, the Primary and Basic Trainer Aircraft HÜRKU. (Photo: AA)


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SSK to gather for an extraordinary meeting for defense-system tender
6 March 2013 /AYDIN ALBAYRAK, ANKARA
Determined to be self-sufficient in defense, Turkey is set to take big steps in aviation and space technologies with three new investments, a high-level defense official announced on Wednesday.

The first is the establishment of an organized industrial zone, to be located in an area of more than 5 million square meters in Ankara's Kazan district, where domestic and foreign companies specializing in aviation and space will cluster together.

This will be a specialized organized industrial zone, focused solely on aviation, Murad Bayar, undersecretary for the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), said at the Ankara Industrial Cooperation Days in Defense and Aerospace business convention. The industrial zone, being built right next to Turkey's defense giant Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), with the support of Turkey's Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, is expected to be ready next year.

The second major step Turkey has taken in the area of space and aviation is the creation of the Space and Satellite Integration Center presently being established within TAI. We will be producing all sorts of observation and communications satellites there, Bayar said in his opening speech at the meeting. The third investment, and another major step towards defense independence for the country, comes from ASELSAN, a defense industry giant that produces electronic defense products. As parts of Turkey's efforts to domestically supply the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) as completely as possible, the company is establishing a facility where high-tech radar and electronic warfare technologies will be produced.

Turkey has a fast-growing defense industry, in which Turkey's defense industry giants are supported by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Almost 200 firms, out of which nearly 100 are foreign, are being represented at the three-day industrial cooperation days meeting in Ankara, during which around 4,000 business-to-business contacts are expected to be made between representatives of foreign and local firms.

Expressing his trust in the quality work Turkey's defense and aviation SMEs produce, "The cooperation to be made here [between foreign and domestic firms] would be a long-lasting one," Bayar commented, adding that the event, just like a matchmaker, will pave the way for successful future cooperation between companies. The convention, which was organized by the Ankara-based Defense and Aviation Cluster (OSSA) under the auspices of the SSM, marks a first in its category in defense industry events formerly held in Turkey.

In the last 10 years, the yearly revenue of Turkey's defense and aviation industry has had a fourfold increase, while exports increased fivefold. The future is also promising, given that the industry's spending on research and development has risen more than tenfold in the same period. To take an example, some eight years ago, TAI's yearly revenue, stood at around $1 million, while the figure reached $50 million last year, TAI CEO Muharrem Dörtkal said in his opening speech.

The Turkish defense industry has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent years. As per data from the Defense and Aerospace Industry Manufacturers Association (SASAD), the total industry turnover, including sale of items produced by the civilian aviation industry, reached $4.4 billion in 2011, while the total exports figure amounted to $1.1 billion in the same year, the defense-only figure, which is stripped of civilian aviation items, stands at $817 million.

According to data from the Defense and Aerospace Industry Exporters' Association (SSI), which was established in 2011, reflecting the substantial growth the industry has achieved in the last several years, the industry's exports figure rose to $1.262 billion in 2012, while the figure was only a little over $600 million in 2007, and $850 million in 2010.

As per the strategic plan of the SSM for 2012-16, the industry aims to increase yearly revenue to $8 billion and exports to $2 billion by 2016. Presently ranked 16th in terms of turnover, the industry hopes to place in the top 10 in the world by 2023, the centennial of the foundation of the Turkish Republic. Turkey is also working towards the domestic production of fighter jets, with the first test flight expected to take place in 2023.
 
hadn't heard a good news for weeks that this popped out. thanks for the poster. But can you put the source for further research.
 

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