Qatar Defence Attaché Office Opens in Ankara with the Participation of the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces
The Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Major-General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah visited Turkey and Turkey’s Chief of General Staff, Necdet ÖZEL in his Office. During the visit, a Military Training Co-operation Agreement between the Armed Forces of Qatar and Turkey was signed by the two countries’ Chiefs of General Staff. In the opening ceremony of the Defence Attaché Office in Ankara, Major General Hamad Bin Ali AL-ATTIYAH also talked with the Turkish Defence officials.
National Defence Deputy Minister Kemal YARDIMCI, Undersecretary for Defence Industries Murad BAYAR, Ambassador to Turkey Abdul Razzaq AL ABDULGHANI, Deputy Undersecretary for the Defence Industries Sedat GÜLDOĞAN, Head of International Affairs Department Lütfi VAROĞLU, Qatari Military Attache, Brigadier General Hamid AL HAJRI, General Manager of MKEK İzzet ARTUNÇ, General Manager of HAVELSAN Sadık YAMAÇ, General Manager of ASELSAN Cengiz ERGENEMAN, Executive Vice President of TAI Emre YAZICI and a number of other Turkish and Qatari officials attended the ceremony.
In his speech by Qatar’s Ambassador to Turkey, Abdul Razzaq AL ABDULGHANI stated that the cooperation between two countries has been increasing since the establishment of the Embassy of Qatar in Turkey in year 1922 and continued his words as: "Military relations between Turkey and Qatar strengthened highly in a very short period of time and we are intended to further improve these relations. All our efforts are exerted to buy a property in Turkey and build a Defence Attaché complex on it". Following the Qatari Ambassador’s speech, Qatari Chief of General Staff Hamad Bin Ali AL-ATTIYAH ran up the Qatari flag.
MoU Signed by Turkey and Qatar in IDEF 2011 Opens New Doors
In IDEF 2011, Ministry of Defence of Qatar and Undercretariat for Defence Industries of Turkey signed a MoU . This MoU is focused on the improvement of bilateral cooperation in defence and homeland security and procurement defence systems from Turkish companies by Qatar and technology transfer to Qatar. Turkish companies have taken sound achievements in Qatar in recent years. Besides Mini UAV agreement, signed between Turkish Kale-Baykar and Qatar, Yonca-Onuk has recently signed a contract to deliver three (3) units of ONUK MRTP34 Fast Patrol/Attack Craft and three(3) units of ONUK MRTP16 Fast Intervention Craft to the Qatar Armed Forces. Milgem is an important milestone in Turkish Naval Capabilities and technology. Within the gained expertise, Turkish RMK, Aselsan, Havelsan and STM industrial team is interested in C-1600 corvette for the Qatari Naval Forces requirements. The negotitions on Havelsan’s AW 139 simulators, TAI’s Atak and ANKA, Dearsan’s Diving Support Vessels continue with Qatari officials.
