Ankara: Trkiye's Defense Industries Secretary Haluk Gorgun announced that the NATO summit in Ankara, along with the Defense Industry Forum, signifies the start of "a new chapter" for the alliance as its members aim to enhance their defense industrial base.

According to Anadolu Agency, Gorgun emphasized that the world is amidst a significant transformation, making it impossible for NATO to remain uninvolved. Speaking at a reception hosted by the Secretariat of Defense Industries during the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, he noted that the alliance is at a historic turning point. Gorgun assured attendees that future accounts of NATO's history will include a special chapter dedicated to the Ankara summit, marking it as the beginning of a new era for NATO's defense industry collaboration.

Gorgun highlighted that the forum is the result of initiatives launched at previous NATO summits in Vilnius, Washington, and The Hague, all aimed at bolstering cooperation between allies and the defense industry. The forum featured displays by Turkish defense companies, including an air show with manned and unmanned aircraft from Turkish Aerospace and Baykar. He described Baykar as a "global game-changing UAV company," emphasizing its critical role in Ukraine for transatlantic security. The Kizilelma unmanned combat aircraft by Baykar garnered significant interest during the event.

The reception also displayed various Turkish defense products such as the Altay main battle tank by BMC, air defense systems from the Steel Dome family by Aselsan and Roketsan, heavy-caliber munition systems from ARCA Defence and the Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, drones from STM, armored vehicles from Otokar, and platforms by Nurol Makina and FNSS.

Gorgun underlined the importance of collective capabilities over individual national capabilities for NATO's future strength. He pointed out that the alliance's development through partnership is more crucial than the capabilities of individual countries. He identified the need for aggregating demand, early industry engagement, rapid technology adoption, innovation, and resilient defense supply chains as key priorities for enhancing cooperation among allies.