The role of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation in Turkish Defence
“The campaigns such as “Make your Own Plane”, “Make Your Own Arms” were initiated as a result of the arms embargo imposed following the Cyprus Peacekeeping Operation in 1974. The Turkish people showed great interest and contributed to these campaigns both financially and intangibly, and as a consequence the Subsidiaries of the Foundation performing activities today were established. The separate Foundations of Land, Naval and Air Forces performing activities previously were gathered under the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation with the law no 3388 dated 17 June 1987.
Besides its leadership to the developments in the Turkish Defence Industry with the companies holding shares, the Foundation has enabled the development and improvement of small and medium scaled companies by providing business opportunities. Taking into consideration nearly 14.000 personnel working at these companies together with their families, these companies have provided employment opportunities to nearly 50.000 people, hence a considerable employment opportunity has been created contributing to the country’s economy.
In addition to the leadership to defence industry through its own capabilities without benefiting from the state’s sources, the Foundation has carried out social responsibility activities such as organizing art, poetry and sports competitions amongst the students in primary and secondary schools, contributing to the education of the children within the country such as providing books and training materials, renovation of some historical houses and buildings, opening museums and exhibitions, contributing to the medical aids of the donators”.
Below information regarding the establishment, management and objectives of the Foundation has been given by the Foundation Representatives:
“The President of the Board of Trustees of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation is the Minister of National Defence. The Members are; Deputy Chief of Turkish General Staff, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defence and Undersecretary of Defence Industry. The Foundation is executed by the General Director in accordance with the decisions of Board of Trustees.
The Headquarter of the Foundation is located in Ankara, and it has representative offices in İstanbul, İzmir and Mersin. In addition, the Voluntary Aid Committees chaired by 65 Governors and 608 Head Officials of Districts have continued its promotion activities in line with the objectives and principles of the Foundation. The studies for the establishment of the related committees in every city and district of Turkey have been continuing. Below are the main objectives of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation determined with the Law no 3388;
• Development of the national military industry of Turkey,
• Establishment of new fields in military industry,
• Receiving the financial and intangible supports of Turkish people for the contribution to the enhancement of the fighting power of the Turkish Armed Forces through procurement of military tools.
In addition to these remarks, the Authorities have pointed out that the considerable characteristic of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation amongst other foundations is its defence industry approach and nature rather than its social responsibility and service approach, and provided information on the companies of the Foundation having active role on the development of defence industry.
Within this context, the Foundation has direct shares in 14 companies, six of which are subsidiaries. The number of companies increases to 18 taken into consideration the participations of these subsidiaries. The related companies are shown on the table given below:
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SUBSIDIARIES ASELSAN Inc. AFFILIATES TUSAŞ Engine Industry PARTICIPATIONS STM Inc. |
The Authorities have given the below summary on the contributions of the Foundation to the defence industry and country economy:
The assets of the Foundation basically consist of the liquid assets, immoveable and participations. Total value of these assets was nearly 447 million YTL in 2005 and reached 500 million YTL at the end of 2006 third quarter.
The major income items of the Foundation are financial income acquired from the appraisal of cash money, profit shares received from subsidiaries and participations, rental and sales income acquired from immoveable, income received from IDEF Fair organized bi-yearly and donations made by Turkish people.
The total income in 2005 was nearly 53 million YTL; at the end of 2006 third quarter the total income amount was 43 million YTL. The total income amount of 2006 is expected to exceed the amount of 2005.
According to the provision taking part in the Settlement Deed, 80% of the annual income is allocated for the procurement of military tools and contribution to the development of Defence Industry. The half of this amount is allocated to the supply projects of the Military Departments approved by the Turkish General Staff and paid to the related company that realizes the project. The total of payments made for this purpose between 1987 - 2005 is 210 million YTL.
The other half of the 80% share is used for the establishment of new companies, entering into partnerships with current companies, increasing partnership interests, contribution to the development of Defence Industry through participation in capital increase of the companies. 49 million YTL has been used in 2006 for the development of the Defence Industry.
In summary; on one hand, the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation has been providing finance for the supply of Turkish Armed Forces through direct revenue transfer and on the other hand it has been making efforts for the development of Defence Industry through its investments.
As a result, the Foundation has been directly contributing to the public needs through resource allocation, as well as indirectly to the Defence Industry and Turkish economy through original technology generation, production and employment activities of its companies.
We, as Defence Turkey, would like to point out that the subsidiaries and participations of the Foundation have been making the major contribution by meeting the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and through increasing the domestic contribution, employment opportunity, capability, creating original technology and adding value.
We will be continuing to enlighten our readers by presenting detailed information on the activities of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, which holds the leading nature of the Turkish Defence Industry.
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The information regarding the activities of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, which directly contributes to “National Defence and Country’s Economy”, has been taken place in this issue. The General Director of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (R) Lt. General Aydın Şen has stated that Defence Turkey Magazine will contribute to the promotion of Turkish Defence Industry in international markets and have a vital role in terms of international cooperation. Following his best wishes to the Defence Turkey Magazine and its staff in whole magazine business life, he continued to explain the activities of the Foundation. |
