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Bloomberg

Turkey unveiled a model of its first fighter jet this weekend, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended events celebrating the country’s military history and his own role in building up its defence industry.
A prototype of the TF-X fighter jet was revealed on Saturday, along with models of a light attack aircraft and a stealthy combat drone, while Erdogan attended a ceremony at Gallipoli to mark the anniversary of a key World War I victory for the former Ottoman Empire.
That battle carries symbolic weight in the formation of modern Turkey.
Erdogan, who came to power more than 20 years ago, is seeking to extend his rule in elections on May 14 and hopes that ambitious arms projects will increase his popularity among nationalist and conservative voters.

Milli Muharip Uçak motor çalıştırarak piste çıktı!
Detaylar ve testten fotoğraflar, haberimizde: https://t.co/0T23eO2yFu pic.twitter.com/MsObrHVySK
— SavunmaSanayiST.com (@SavunmaSanayiST) March 17, 2023

He’s facing the broadest-ever grouping of opposition parties, which are vying to end to his increasingly authoritarian leadership.
He also faced heavy criticism for his government’s response to the recent earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in the country and left around 115,000 injured, particularly after footage emerged of him bragging about builders skirting earthquake construction codes in the affected areas.
The president on Sunday inaugurated a facility that will produce boron carbide, which is used to make bulletproof armour vests, helicopter seats and armors for tanks.
Turkey’s death toll tops 48,000 as nation races to build container cities
Turkey is striving to develop more of its own military assets, including domestic engines for tanks and warplanes, so it can rely less on non-domestic manufacturers.
“With the production of boron carbide, we will have a key defense industry product that is used from planes to tactical vehicles as well as protective vests,” Erdogan said at the opening of the facility, which aims to produce 1,000 tonnes of boron carbide per year in the western Balikesir province.
“With this project we’re adding value to our vast boron mineral deposits and becoming the producer and exporter of the world’s third-hardest substance.”


Erdogan said Turkey’s development of its defense sector has been slowed down due to “sanctions” from Nato allies, adding that it will build another boron carbide facility with an annual capacity of 5,000 tonnes in the western province of Kutahya.
Turkey’s homemade Bayraktar TB2 drones, developed by one of Erdogan’s son-in-laws, drew praise from Ukraine to Azerbaijan as a low-cost but effective weapons systems.
Erdogan’s push for homegrown defence kits has pitched Ankara into uneasy new alliances and convulsing ties with traditional Nato partners.
Washington remains wary about Turkey’s possession of an advanced Russian missile-defense system at a time when Ankara is hoping to purchase new F-16 warplanes from the US.
Putin hosts Assad as Kremlin seeks to mend ties between Syria and Turkey
Turkey took delivery of the S-400 missile-defense system made by Russia in 2019, two years after Ankara signed an agreement with Moscow to buy the system in the hope that the cooperation could help it develop similar technology.
The US sanctioned Turkey and barred it from working on and receiving Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 stealth jets in response.
Turkey recently test-fired a locally made, short-range ballistic missile. Erdogan has since said the nation is working on increasing the range of its domestically-built Tayfun missiles.


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Turkey

Erdogan turns to Turkey’s first fighter jet to boost election support

An earlier model of a TF-X jet fighter in Istanbul, Turkey in 2019. File photo: Shutterstock 

Turkey and Hungary put Finland on course to join Nato

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto in Ankara, Turkey, on Friday. 
Photo: via Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, with Finland ‘s President Sauli Niinisto in Ankara on Friday. Photo: Turkish Presidency / dpa

Turkey election: opposition unites behind Kilicdaroglu to take on Erdogan

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu speaks to the media following a meeting of the opposition alliance in Ankara on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu shout slogans in Ankara on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

No more Turkey: nation changes name to Türkiye at UN in rebranding effort

A mosque in Istanbul, Turkey; the nation wants to be known as Türkiye, pronounced tur-key-YAY. Photo: AFP

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a letter to the UN requesting that his country be referred to as “Türkiye”. Photo: AP

Then-US President Donald Trump “pardons” a turkey in 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

Will Russia’s Ukraine invasion push Nato’s prodigal son Turkey back into US arms?

An Ukrainian soldier keeps position at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze at a damaged city centre after a Russian air raid in Chernigiv on Thursday. Photo: AP

News

World

Middle East

Turkey’s president promoted new military assets this weekend, including a TF-X fighter jet prototype
Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a presidential election in May amid growing opposition to his leadership


Turkey unveiled a model of its first fighter jet this weekend, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended events celebrating the country’s military history and his own role in building up its defence industry.


Defence

Aviation