Turkish -German Armaments Cooperation
The bilateral intergovernmental agreement concluded between Turkey and Germany on cooperation in the field of defence material research, development, production, procurement and in-service support as well as on industrial cooperation was signed on the IDEF 2009 by the state secretaries of both countries and is of major importance. For this reason, an armament attaché has been dispatched to the military attaché staff of the German embassy in Ankara by the Directorate General of Armaments of the Federal Ministry of Defence. Within the military attaché staff, he is the direct and immediate point of contact as regards armaments affairs between the two countries.
Beyond that, it should be underlined that good contacts have been established between the executive levels of both countries which are maintained by reciprocal visits, e.g. by the parliamentary state secretary.
The concept on strategic reorientation of the armaments sector? of April 2007 which prioritises a cooperation within the European and transatlantic framework describes the objectives of the German armaments cooperation policy:
- Provision of joint capabilities on the basis of harmonised requirements;
- Further development of core defence capabilities from an efficient, technological industrial base in Germany to a private-sector and competitive European structure;
- Reduction of multiple capacities and acceptance of interdependencies, given secured military supply of the respective national armed forces;
- Use of synergies within the alliance of partners;
- Implementation of market-economy principles on the European armament market.
Ongoing good cooperation in the naval sector, deepening of relations between the land forces (by delivery of Leopard 2 A4), state-of-the-art cooperation opportunities between the air forces as well as the bilateral intergovernmental agreement are a good basis for extending cooperation with Turkey. The latter will be characterised by technologies applied within the context of the cooperation projects, while also taking security requirements into account.
As regards armaments cooperation projects, Turkey has a tremendous potential to offer - not least on account of its increased economic power and technological capacity for innovation.
Meanwhile, based on the intergovernmental agreement concluded in 2009, a Joint Committee (JC) composed of representatives of the contracting parties and chaired by the national armaments directors has been established for the implementation of the agreement. The committee usually meets once a year (alternately in Turkey and Germany) and shall, inter alia:
- Present and exchange information to identify proposals having a potential for cooperation;
- Consider proposals by either party for cooperative research, development, production, procurement and in-service support in particular items of defence material;
- Having regard to the requirements of proposals selected, develop and decide on arrangements to implement programmes, seek approval as necessary and review progress
- Commonly evaluate and decide on invitation of third countries to joint project
- Encourage the participation in activities such as exhibitions, conferences, symposia and similar events.
A first meeting was held in Bonn in April 2010, where the terms of reference were agreed upon. The next meeting is scheduled for June 2011 in Turkey.
Turkey is a significant cooperation partner for Germany. We share Turkey?s view that reliable and goal-oriented bilateral armaments cooperation should be preferred to multilateral agreements and commitments.
Lately, the relations between our two nations, and in particular the armaments relations, have developed in a way which is very advantageous to both our countries.
