Defense and diplomacy drive Türkiye’s rising power

This week, Istanbul is hosting a major defense and aerospace exhibition. In our childhood, we used to talk about exhibitions in Paris or Hannover. Today, the SAHA 2026 Expo at the Istanbul Expo Center has become an event discussed globally.

As I have often noted in my columns, the material infrastructure and institutional ecosystems Türkiye has steadily built have, in the long run, enhanced its leverage in diplomacy.

Looking from the most fundamental level, when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power, it methodically established an integrated ecosystem covering transportation, health care, technical education infrastructure, energy, and dozens of other fields. Having matured significantly, these ecosystems now satisfy Türkiye’s internal demands while increasingly positioning the country as a provider capable of meeting the needs of neighboring regions and global markets.

Seeing future

History shows that a significant share of technological and managerial innovation has emerged from research and development carried out in the military sphere.

After making breakthroughs in many areas, Türkiye – guided by the high vision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has calculated the world’s future and the risks facing states – decisively pushed for a revolution in the defense industry over the last decade. The country’s young, hard‑working and idealistic people have supported the president’s vision, giving rise to a genuine revolution in the defense and aerospace industry. As NATO’s secretary-general recently noted, that revolution is now widely recognized.

If we take two aspects together, Türkiye is a country with a historical mission. Looking at the lands left by the Ottoman Empire – almost half the world – one can see that although the doors to Türkiye were largely closed during the last century, today those doors are being opened one by one.

Western states sell very limited technology at high prices. Türkiye, by contrast, uses its historical mission and one‑on‑one relations backed by strong diplomacy to meet the needs of its neighbors, friends, and allied communities with modern, advanced military equipment.

So, which ultimately empowers the other – diplomacy or the defense industry? Does diplomacy strengthen defense capabilities, or does a robust defense industry enhance diplomatic influence?

A telling example comes from Haluk Bayraktar, general manager of Baykar, Türkiye’s leading UAV manufacturer. In one African country, a rebellion erupted, with insurgents advancing to the brink of the presidential palace. Turkish UAVs and UCAVs were subsequently deployed, pushing the rebels back step by step and ultimately restoring stability. As Bayraktar has noted, once a country’s security is ensured and stability is established, the groundwork is laid for broader economic engagement. This, in essence, is the critical point.

Diplomacy tools

Until now, Türkiye’s diplomacy has had various components: Turkish Airlines (THY) flying to many countries, Turkish institutions such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), the Maarif Foundation operating widely, and international students flocking to be welcomed by Türkiye’s youth. These are all instruments of “smart power” alongside Turkish diplomacy.

Once the diplomacy we conduct with states reaches a certain level and maturity, those same countries will be ready to negotiate with you and shape an infrastructure that addresses their people’s security and future concerns.

Today, as sophisticated defense products emerge, Turkish products are finding a growing market step by step – from Indonesia to Latin America, from Spain to Africa, and even Canada.

No other state in the world likely shares a larger intersection of common interests than Türkiye. Consider the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) – those are directly our brother nations. Look at Africa: the balance of power between France and Türkiye is now shifting. In the Balkans, a region where we have lived for centuries, almost every nation – including Serbia – is like a relative society.

Western military assistance is both costly and, at times, of questionable effectiveness – a conclusion that emerged from the recent tensions in the Gulf. Despite investing trillions in U.S. arms, Gulf states were left almost unable to defend themselves during the Iran-U.S. conflict.

Therefore, the most important topic debated in recent years, both in the EU and elsewhere, is the matter of countries providing for their own security. Türkiye has made a 10‑year effort in this direction and has built a sophisticated organization and ecosystem behind it.

Looking to Türkiye’s future from today, we can see that the strong diplomacy and ecosystem built under Erdoğan – together with his experienced bureaucracy – mean that Türkiye now arguably possesses one of the most experienced foreign policy, intelligence and leadership teams in the world.

We foresee that Türkiye’s strong infrastructure has raised its international image. Strong diplomacy will, in turn, reinforce the defense industry, and the strong defense industry will again feed back into Turkish diplomacy.

While distant Middle Eastern and European states experience grave security anxieties, it is admirable that Türkiye has foreseen this vision and built its corresponding infrastructure. We wholeheartedly congratulate everyone working in the defense and aerospace industry – the young people, institutions and businesses – and wish them every success.