Celebrating its 32nd anniversary this year, the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TAFF) organized a press conference on the activities of the TAFF as well as the areas of responsibility and future plans with the participation of TAFF General Manager Sadık PİYADE, Group Head Responsible for Companies Erhan SİPAHİOĞLU, Head of Foundation Affairs Division Zeki YAĞCI and other executives of the Foundation. After the meeting, members of the press and Foundation executives came together at lunch.

Sadık PİYADE, General Manager of the TAFF, started his speech by thanking the donors who have played an important role in the journey of the Foundation which was established on September 26, 1987 and the press members who have helped to promote the Foundation. Stating that the TAFF's main task is the development of the Turkish Defense Industry, the establishment of new warfare industry branches, the procurement of war weapons, vehicles and equipment, the expansion of the Turkish Armed Forces war power and the provision of the nation's moral and material support, PİYADE said the visibility is highly important while doing so. 

PİYADE mentioned that the activities of the Foundation are carried out all over Turkey and said these activities are conducted by the District Governors, who are the legal honorary presidents of the Foundation. Stating that he took office two and a half years ago, PİYADE said, “The Foundation has nearly 83,000-84,000 donors, but this figure was around 30,000 two and a half years ago. Our promotional activities are being carried out not only in Turkey, but also at 54 consulates in more than 15 countries in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Emphasizing that another task of the TAFF is to organize the IDEF International Defense Industry Fair under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense, PİYADE said the Foundation is responsible for the management of the IDEF Fair. PİYADE: “We exhibit and promote our high technology systems and platforms at the IDEF Fair. As of 2019, we were ranked number four in the world, this is a great success. For example, in the negotiations held during the Fair, we were ranked number one in the world in terms of the number of agreements signed. Since the evaluation is made on the basis of participation, we are ranked among the top four”. PİYADE added that 1,061 companies participated in the last IDEF Fair in May 2019, 580 of which were foreign companies from 53 countries and nearly 76,000 professionals attended the Fair.

TAFF General Manager Sadık PİYADE: “40% of the net sales of the Turkish Defense Industry belongs to Foundation Companies”

Informing the press members on TAFF Foundation companies, PİYADE said, “We have 6 big companies. The shares of the TAFF in Roketsan and Turkish Aerospace are around 54-55% and we have almost the biggest share of our other companies. We also have affiliates. As of yesterday, one more affiliate joined us. Mercedes has two companies and we have 5% shares in both. TR Test, a Test Company, was newly established. We have shares in DITAS, Koc Netas, TEI, HEAS and you all know their activities. These companies also have their own affiliates. Aselsan, Turkish Aerospace and Havelsan own some other companies. We have 14 companies abroad. When we look at the net sales in the Turkish defense industry, 40% of the net sales belong to our companies and 38% of total exports belong to us. Our international ranking is impressive, Aselsan ranked 52nd, Turkish Aerospace 69th and Roketsan ranked 89th in the top 100 defense industry list. We will go up even further.”

Mentioning that the TAFF has five primary sources of income consisting profit shares from foundation companies, donations, the IDEF fair, real estate income and financial income, PİYADE stated that they support projects undertaken from the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff with these revenues and transfer 80% of their income to the Defense Industry Support Fund and use it for these projects and the remaining 20% is used for operating costs.

Continuing to give examples from foundation companies, PİYADE said, “We have two other companies namely ISBIR and Aspilsan; ISBIR is performing activities in the generator industry and Aspilsan in the battery industry. We have started to make remarkable investments in Turkey. Two of our factories are currently under construction. The excavation work of the factory for ISBIR was completed. We will start mass production there. Most of our generators are low noise generators. The investment for Aspilsan will be initiated soon and we will produce lithium batteries in this facility. ”

Sadık PİYADE, General Manager of theTAFF, closed his speech by thanking all TAFF donors and supporters and said, “We are celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the TAFF, which was established on September 26, 1987 with the Law No. 3388 to contribute to increase the fighting strength of the Turkish Armed Forces by providing the nation's moral and material support, with great honor and happiness. Our Foundation has been strengthened with a corporate structure with the board of trustees under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Turkey, consisting of the Vice President, Minister of National Defense, Chief of General Staff and the President of Defense Industries. Our highly esteemed nation did not fear the sacrifice of life for the sake of our country throughout history, they helped and supported, expecting nothing in return.  The will of the state to develop and produce its own defense system products in Turkey was forged as a result of the embargoes imposed on our country after the Cyprus Peace Operation. As a result, they contributed to the establishment of our leading defense industry companies such as Aselsan, TA, Roketsan, Havelsan, Isbir and Aspilsan. In addition to the great support of our valuable donors, we believe that our foundation companies also have significant roles in our country's defense industry achievements. Today, we are very proud to represent a very large family of around 100,000 donors and nearly 2,000 foundation company employees. It will be our greatest effort to use each penny donated by the praiseworthy Turkish people in accordance with the founding purpose of our Foundation. We would like to thank once again, our valuable donors who have contributed to our TAFF affiliates who have been exerting efforts for the development of indigenous and national products and solutions based on advanced technology and their pursuit of becoming global companies.”