ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Ukraine, both Russian adversaries, have pledged to boost build a "strategic" cooperation in defense industry cooperation, with a view to co-design, co-develop and co-produce gear.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, Feb. 15 in efforts to bolster the regional anti-Russian bloc. On the sidelines of that visit procurement and defense technology officials from Turkey and Ukraine met and agreed to boost their defense industry cooperation.
Turkish and Ukrainian officials agreed to set up different working groups that would work on weapons systems production as well as on "advanced technology cooperation."
One senior Turkish procurement official called the move "strategic."
Turkey's top procurement official, Ismail Demir, said that defense industry cooperation with Ukraine was of great importance and would progress even further.
A senior official in the Turkish prime minister’s delegation said that Turkey and Ukraine aimed cooperation hope to cooperate primarily in turbojet aircraft engines, radars, military communications technologies and navigation systems.
"There will be partnerships in designing, developing and manufacturing those systems," he said.
Burak Ege Bekdil was the Turkey correspondent for Defense News.
