Erdoğan: Türkiye now holds 65% of global drone market

Türkiye has risen to 11th place globally in arms exports, with defence products now reaching 180 countries, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

Speaking at a ceremony in Ankara marking the handover of the first serial-produced Altay tank to the Turkish Land Forces, Erdoğan stressed that Ankara aims to eliminate reliance on imported defence equipment, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

The president highlighted that the new BMC production facility can manufacture eight Altay tanks and ten Altuğ armoured personnel carriers per month.

“We are determined to remove any dependence on foreign suppliers, including for critical components of the Altay tanks,” he said, emphasising Türkiye’s commitment to developing its domestic defence industry.

Erdoğan acknowledged that international restrictions could slow Türkiye’s progress, but insisted they would not prevent the country from achieving its objectives. “We will either find an alternative path to our goal or carve out a new one,” he said.

He also pointed to growing global military, political, and economic tensions. “New tools and capabilities directly affect the course of this struggle, expanding its scope. Humanity is going through a difficult historical period, where tariffs spur technological breakthroughs and energy policies directly threaten food security. A new geopolitical equation is taking shape,” Erdoğan said, noting that the old world order dominated by a few powers is showing cracks.

Underlining Türkiye’s defence achievements, the president said the country’s import dependency in the sector has fallen from over 80% to less than 20% in recent decades. He added that Türkiye now accounts for 65% of the global drone market.

By Aghakazim Guliyev