THE TURKISH ARMED FORCES DURING TRANSFORMATION AND MODERNIZATION: STRATEGIES AND TRENDS
Keywords:
Turkey, NATO, armed forces, war industry, modernization, strategy, security.Abstract
This article examines the general trends in the modernization strategy of Turkey’s defense sector after the end of the Cold War, which, in addition to everything else, envisages the need for extensive renewal of the army. It pays particular attention to the role of Turkey’s military and industrial complex in modernizing the country’s armed forces, the main trends of which are identified on the basis of an analysis of official figures and indices. Modernization of the army and development of the military-industrial complex are largely aimed at meeting Turkey’s geopolitical ambitions to become a more influential force in the region.
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Quoted from: N. Uslu, op. cit., pp. 125-126.
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See: Ibidem.
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See: “Askerlikte Zorunlu profesyonellik,” Aksiyon, 26 November, 2012.31 As early as 2013 deliveries of military helicopters of Turkish-Italian joint manufacture T129 ATAK will begin.
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See: Ibid., S. 16.
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See: “Aselsan Climbs Six Places in Largest Defense Companies Ranking,” 14 August, 2011, available at [http://
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See: “Savunma Sanayii Müsteşarlığı 2011 Faaliyet Raporu,” S. 96.
See: “Savunma sanayinde ihracat atağı,” Hürriyet, 20 January, 2013.
See: “Israel’s Defense Exports Reached $4.4B in 2006,” available at [http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com],11 January, 2007.
See: “Israel Arms Exports Increase in 2012,” available at [http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?id=1065975188], 16 January, 2013.
See: Star, 2 February, 2009.
See: See: SIPRI Yearbook 2006, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Oxford University Press, 2006.
See: “Savunmada ‘Made in Turkey’ damgası,” Sabah, 7 May, 2012.
See: Sabah, 26 March, 2012.
According to the data posted in May 2008 on the website of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, Turkey was a major supplier of arms to Georgia between 1997 and 2007 (see: “Voennaia pomoshch Gruzii so storony inostrannykh gosudarstv,” available at [http://www.mil.ru/files/table_15_05.doc]).
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