Turkey to boost defence spending 229% to expand home-grown arms manufacturing

Turkey will channel the bulk of a 229 per cent defence budget increase over the next three years into home-grown arms manufacturing, seeking to reduce its dependence on Western suppliers even as NATO's second-largest military grapples with instability across its borders.

Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz announced the spending plan, explaining that the government's priority is to ensure Turkey "develops its own technologies in the defence industry, can meet its own needs and produces high added value". The dramatic budget expansion will run from 2027 through 2029.

Rationale tied to regional security

Yilmaz framed the increase as a response to Turkey's strategic environment, stating: "Where there is no security, there can be neither development nor democracy. We are shaping our budget accordingly". The decision follows mounting regional conflicts and Ankara's ambition to expand its security presence across Europe and the Middle East.

Rather than turning to its Western allies for additional equipment, Turkey intends to direct most of the additional funding toward expanding its domestic production capacity. Bill Park, a senior lecturer in defence studies at King's College London, noted that Ankara has been working toward greater defence self-sufficiency for some time.

The announcement came on Sunday.

Source: South China Morning Post