How Turkish firearms industry rose to become top gun exporter to US

Private gun sales surged in the US in 2020 driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest. As American manufacturing faced disruptions, gun imports soared—especially from Türkiye, which has since become the leading exporter of firearms to the US thanks to their relatively low price point while offering a similar quality as its European competitors. Canik, a Turkish brand owned by Samsun Yurt Savunma (SYS), has particularly become a dominant player in this market.

According to an article by Foreign Policy, their guns are designed to appeal to a broad range of users, including women, youth, and first-time buyers—demographics targeted by gun marketers looking to expand the consumer base. Canik’s pistols are not only ergonomic and easy to handle but also competitively priced at under $400, making them accessible to low-income buyers. Their affordability and reliability have fuelled demand, particularly for the 9 mm models, which dominate crime scene traces in the US

While overall US gun sales have dropped since peaking in 2020, SYS has seen sustained growth, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. It now has the capacity to produce nearly half a million pistols annually, second only to Germany's Sig Sauer, yet sells at about half the price. Much of SYS’s success is linked to its shift toward semi-automatic 9 mm pistols, a category that accounted for 74% of all guns traced in US crimes in 2023.

The rising presence of Turkish firearms reflects economic forces shaping the US gun market but experts warn that the availability of low-cost guns increases public safety risks. Nonetheless, for gun rights advocates, Turkish weapons offer greater access and consumer choice.

Before the 1990s, Ankara made minimal efforts to modernize its small arms production. That changed when the Turkish government found itself in an escalating conflict with Kurdish guerrilla fighters, according to the article's author, prompting a push for more advanced weaponry. In response, the state-run Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) began issuing licenses to small factory owners, effectively formalizing portions of Türkiye’s fragmented, cottage-style gun industry.

Among the emerging companies, SYS stood out as the most ambitious. The company’s roots trace back to Huseyin Cahit Aral, a successful industrialist who built his fortune by founding Türkiye’s first fruit juice, Meysu, and frozen food plants. His son, Zafer Aral, acquired a modest firearms workshop in 1998 and steadily expanded it. Through strategic partnerships with both national and international defence firms, he transformed SYS into a sprawling, high-tech manufacturer operating across several campuses.

Domestic security threats drove industry transformation

The article points out that this evolution was bolstered by reforms launched in 2004 by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Aimed at reducing Türkiye’s reliance on foreign defence contractors, Erdoğan’s policies encouraged domestic innovation in the arms industry. The strategy has paid off: today, Türkiye’s defence and trade ministries actively support local companies by providing subsidies, export promotion, favourable loans, and lucrative contracts to supply the country’s armed forces and police.

Canik pistols, made by SYS, have since become the top-selling product for Century Arms, the brand’s US distributor. Turkish firearms—once considered niche—now regularly earn prestigious industry awards. They have gained loyal followings, with dedicated fan forums and crowds gathering around their booths at US gun shows.

Due to America’s varied state-level gun laws, the distribution of these firearms can be complex. Some semi-automatic Turkish models are restricted in certain states because of their high-capacity magazines. Dealers, however, easily adapt by offering the same models with reduced-capacity magazines in those jurisdictions. In 2022, when one of Canik’s new pistols failed to pass the US import test, the company responded by establishing its first American factory in Florida. This allowed them to sidestep import restrictions entirely.

The facility, which opened in December, began production with the initially rejected Canik pistol and is already planning to expand into the manufacturing of heavy machine guns and medium-caliber cannons. This move marks another significant step in Türkiye’s growing presence in the global—and especially American—arms industry.

By Nazrin Sadigova