Commentary on Assessing the Turkish defense industry: structural issues and major challenges

Abstract

The reform process of Turkish defense industry as launched in the last quarter of the twentieth century has seen several achievements, as well as downfalls, and passed through major milestones. The resultant industrial structure is unique, compared to the other sectors in the country. Dominated by the TSKGV (Turkish Armed Forces Foundation), the major goal of the sector has always been involved in attaining self-sufficiency, indicative of an import substitution-oriented industry policy. This strategy is evident in decision-making and execution processes of virtually all defense procurement programs. However, lack of an efficient mechanism for science and technology policy-making mechanism, is observed as a major obstacle toward sustainable development of the sector. Although benefited from the overall economic take-off during the 2000s, today the Turkish defense industry faces to the challenge of sustainability, which is heavily dependent on export performance. The forthcoming period will test the sector, revealing the necessary coordination and communication by and between the military and civilian bureaucracies.

Keywords:

• Turkey
• defense industry
• defense planning
• defense policy
• Turkish Armed Forces
• defense procurement