The facility established in Aselsan MGEO Akyurt Facilities, which is capable of conducting production activities with micro and nanotechnology, was opened at an official ceremony. National Defence Minister Mr. İsmet Yılmaz, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Mr. Fikri Işık, Aselsan’s Chairman of the Board Mr. Hasan Canbolat, Aselsan CEO Cengiz Ergeneman, one of the prominent architects of the project Middle East Technical University (METU) faculty member Prof. Cengiz Beşikçi, representatives of Turkish Armed Forces and universities attended the opening ceremony of Aselsan Infrared Detector Production Facilities bearing “national and critical” technologies.

In his speech at the ceremony, Minister of National Defence Mr. İsmet Yılmaz pointed out the level of advanced technology reached in Turkey with the mass production of detectors and said, “Our goal is to increase our country’s technological competence. We need to allocate more resources to R&D and continue this ever-lasting progress”. Yılmaz mentioned that 1,2 billion USD allocated annually to defence industry and that in order to boost this industry, more share has to be allocated to R&D. Yılmaz mentioned that a lot of Turkish companies are capable of competing internationally and continued,  “Turkey became the fifth country that is capable of producing indigenous thermal cameras in the world. We need to produce higher added value in order to reach the target of 36 billion USD in defence industry exports”.