Transforming Defense: How Turkey Evolved from a Nascent Industry to a Global Player

This analysis is based on triggered research by Uğur Ermiş and Günseli Gümüşel, published in Defense & Security Analysis (2023, Volume 39, Issue 1), for a critical appreciation of the industry’s failures and challenges between 1919 and 1950 in Turkey. It provides an effort toward baselining the understanding of the historical context that provides a backdrop for evaluating the industry’s evolution. Moreover, this analysis makes detailed comparisons with the current state of the Turkish defense sector based on recent data and my research findings. In this way, it incorporates historical perspectives with up-to-date information to build a complete picture of how the industry of that country has changed from early misguided beginnings into the successes it experiences at the current time.

Historical Context (1919–1950)

Foundation and Early Development

At the end of the First World War and most significantly with the founding of the Republic of Turkey, the new state faced the colossal duty of creating an autonomous defense industry. The first measures aimed to set up various factories for weapon and ammunition production and aircraft construction. The early attempts at aircraft design by pioneers like Vecihi Hürkuş…