Undersecretariat for Defence Industries Opened an International Cooperation Office in Kazakh Capital Astana
Minister of National Defence Mr. İsmet Yılmaz, Undersecretary for Defence Industries Mr. Murad Bayar, Aselsan’s Chairman of the Board Mr. Necmettin Baykul, Aselsan General Manager Mr. Cengiz Ergeneman, representatives of Defence sector and military authorities and members of press attended the opening ceremony of SSM’s Office at Astana.
Answering the questions of press members at the opening ceremony, National Defence Minister Mr. İsmet Yılmaz stated that four offices of SSM are in operation up to date and said, “We aim the promotion of Turkish Defence Industry companies and their products in the establishment of these offices. One will not have to visit Turkey in order to gain information on such issues now that these offices are in operation”.
National Defence Minister İsmet Yılmaz commented on the establishment of Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering factory owned by Kazakhstan state-owned-enterprise Kazakhstan Engineering and Aselsan and mentioned that the factory was built for meeting the military and defence demands of Kazakhstan and regional countries and continued, “An investment of 44 million US Dollars have been made up to date for this facility. We believe that our efforts since 2010 have paid off and been fruitful. Products shall be manufactured in the facility from now on and thus the demands of both Kazakhstan and countries in the region shall be covered”.
In his speech, Yılmaz mentioned that the Ministry of National Defence and Aselsan would also provide all training activities regarding defence industry and that they would increasingly support Kazakhstan and added that as KAE Company grew and developed, the facility established on a field of 75.000 square meters shall grow and new complexes shall be built. Yılmaz continued, “There are 46 personnel assigned in the factory presently. Most of them are Kazakh citizens who have been trained in Turkey. We aim to increase this figure to 300 people in 2023”. Yılmaz pointed out the export potential of the region and added “We need some time for this. We believe that, as our Defence Industry Products “Altay” Main Battle Tank, “Anka” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, “Atak” Attack Helicopter, Çaldıran, Karayel and Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles enter into Turkish Armed Forces’ Inventory, their brand value shall increase and export potential shall grow stronger”.
Later on, National Defence Minister and the delegation accompanied realized the opening of SSM’s Astana Office and cut the ribbon.
