Türkiye, Japan discuss advanced tech partnership in defence sector talks

President of Türkiye’s Defence Industry Agency, Haluk Görgün, stated that Türkiye aims to transform its strategic partnership with Japan into more concrete cooperation in the defense industry based on advanced technology, quality, trust, and mutual benefit.

Görgün held a series of high-level meetings in Tokyo and Kobe aimed at strengthening defense industry cooperation between Türkiye and Japan, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

According to a statement from the agency, Görgün met with Japan’s Minister of Defense, as well as the commanders of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. He also held talks with the leadership of the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA).

Görgün emphasized that relations between Türkiye and Japan have developed on the basis of deep-rooted friendship, mutual respect, and trust.

"Today, our relations have evolved into a much broader framework of cooperation built on historical friendship and strategic partnership. We want to strengthen our defense industry contacts through long-term and institutional cooperation worthy of this relationship," he said.

He added:

"We aim to transform our strategic partnership with Japan into more concrete cooperation in the defense industry based on advanced technology, quality, trust, and mutual benefit."

Görgün noted that Japan’s culture of engineering excellence, quality, and technological innovation complements Türkiye’s dynamic defense industry ecosystem.

"We see strong synergy potential between Japan’s high-tech production capabilities and Türkiye’s agile, innovative, and combat-proven defense industry expertise. Our discussions focus on turning this potential into concrete cooperation in research and development, supply chains, system integration, and advanced technologies," he said.

Technical Visits to KHI and NEC Facilities

As part of his visit, Görgün toured Kawasaki Heavy Industries's Kobe Works facility and NEC Corporation's Fuchu facility in Tokyo.

The visits focused on advanced manufacturing technologies, electronic systems, communications infrastructure, system integration, and potential areas for cooperation in defense technologies.

"Our meetings with ATLA, KHI, and NEC provide an opportunity to evaluate each other's capabilities more closely. Our goal is to establish a sustainable, trust-based, and mutually beneficial framework for cooperation between the industrial and technological institutions of both countries," Görgün said.

Participation in Turkish-Japanese Society Centennial Reception

During his visit, Görgün also attended the 100th Anniversary Reception of the Turkish-Japanese Society, hosted in the presence of Princess Akiko of Mikasa.

He stressed that relations between Türkiye and Japan extend beyond institutional cooperation.

"The friendship between our two nations is one of the most valuable foundations of our relationship. We hope this visit will contribute not only to cooperation efforts in the defense industry but also to strengthening the bonds of friendship between our peoples," he said.

Photo: Chat GPT