Belgium and Turkey have signed nine defence agreements, the Belgian defence minister told AFP in Ankara on Wednesday after top-level talks with his Turkish counterpart.
“Today was a really big step forward,” Belgium’s Defence Minister Theo Francken said after talks with his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler in the framework of four-day economic mission led by Belgium’s Queen Mathilde.
The move comes as European nations seek to reinvigorate their defence industries in light of the threat from Russia and the risk of a US disengagement from NATO.
Francken was speaking at a defence and aeronautical networking event at the Belgium ambassador’s residence in the Turkish capital.
Six of the defence-industrial agreements were signed in Ankara on Wednesday and another three in Istanbul on Monday, Francken’s office said in a statement, without saying what they were worth.
“Belgium and Turkey have taken a major step toward a long-term strategic defence partnership through the signing of a high-level letter of intent between the ministers of defence,” it said.
“These agreements reflect the deepening of bilateral defence relations from political dialogue into concrete industrial and military cooperation.”
Belgium also expressed its support for Turkey accessing the EU’s 150-billion-euro SAFE initiative, a defence scheme aimed at strengthening European defence capabilities.
Francken said the contacts covered Belgian and Turkish investments as well as “joint cooperations” without going into detail, while expressing interest in buying Turkish drones.
“Yes, that would be great,” he said, noting any such move would be subject to European procurement rules.
– ‘An incredible range of sectors’ –
“Turkey is really a country with great strength in defence, the second largest power within NATO, so of course it’s important to also have collaborations and cooperations with their industry,” he told AFP, saying the aim was to sign further contracts next year.
“That’s the ambition,” he said, adding that the Belgian delegation had signed “a lot of contracts in other areas as well, it was not only in defence.”
Belgium was also interested in a wide range of other areas, from biotech to public health, logistics and transport, he said.
“There’s an incredible range of sectors.”
The letter of intent foresees intensified cooperation between the two nations in military capability development and defence industry collaboration.
Belgium also agreed to let Turkish officers study at its Royal Military Academy in Brussels.
“The strategic importance of Turkey in the rearmament and defence-industrial strengthening of Europe is obvious. Europe cannot afford to neglect the huge potential here,” Francken said in the statement.
“Fostering industrial partnerships among NATO allies should be a main goal for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara. And also for the EU. That is why Belgium is advocating to include Turkey in future SAFE programmes.”
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