Date: Issue 60 - May 2015
Ministry of National Defence - Firing, Test and Evaluation Center (ATDM), which was established by the main contractor Roketsan at Karapınar-Konya, was opened with the participation of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu as well as many military and defence officials.
In his speech at the opening ceremony of the MOD Firing, Test and Evaluation Center, Prime Minister Davutoğlu mentioned that Turkey has made a significant headway regarding the development of defence industry infrastructure since 2002 and said “In 2002, Turkey was importing 80% of its defence industry needs; since then Turkey’s foreign dependency has been reduced by the development achieved in major and strategic areas”. Davutoğlu stated that Turkey has become one of the major defence industry countries of the world thanks to the strategic vision introduced during the last 12 years and said “With 5 billion USD production, 1.6 million USD export and 1 billion USD R&D investment, our defence industry has become a leading sector amongst other industry sectors. The development of the defence industry and the strengthening of the infrastructure in consequence is not only critical for the defence industry but also for the general structure of the industry and our economy.”