30.10.2026 15:51
At the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, it was decided to establish a joint Defense Industry College under Türkiye’s leadership and to create a Cybersecurity Council. This step marks the beginning of a new era in defense cooperation among Turkic states.
The 163-item outcome declaration adopted at the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States held in Ankara signaled a new era in defence and security. It was decided to explore the option of establishing a joint Defence Industry College in Türkiye and to accelerate work on creating a Cybersecurity Council. So are the Turkic states moving beyond economic and cultural cooperation to establish a common defence infrastructure?
A striking detail in the Ankara Declaration on defence
Following the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), held in Ankara on 30 October and hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the 163-item Ankara Declaration was adopted.
The declaration also included goals for developing cooperation in the economy, trade, energy and transport, as well as in the defence industry and security.
One of the most noteworthy items was the exploration of the possibility of establishing an OTS Defence Industry College with Türkiye as host.
Although no decision to establish it has yet been taken, this initiative could enable member states to develop their defence industry knowledge, expertise and training capacities under a common institutional structure.
Not only cooperation in defence, but a goal of joint production
In his speech at the summit, President Erdoğan also drew attention to the importance of security cooperation among the Turkic states.
Erdoğan stressed the need to pool experience in the defence industry, develop domestic and national technologies and increase joint production capacity.
This approach indicates that relations among the Turkic states could go beyond the buying and selling of defence products, with closer cooperation established in technology development and production processes.
Türkiye’s accumulated experience in unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems, communications technologies and defence electronics is important for possible joint projects.
However, the declaration does not announce a binding decision on the joint production of any specific weapons system.
Preparedness to act jointly on cybersecurity
Another important item in the Ankara Declaration was cybersecurity.
The goal of accelerating consultations on establishing a Cybersecurity Council among the Turkic states is noteworthy in terms of creating a more institutional cooperation mechanism against digital threats.
President Erdoğan also stated at the summit that cybersecurity is as vital as land, air and sea security, and expressed that they expect the cybersecurity and cyber cooperation memorandum to be signed soon.
A possible joint structure could pave the way for new cooperation in areas such as information sharing on cyber threats, expert training and developing joint response capacity.
Is the Organization of Turkic States turning into a security organization?
The picture that emerged at the Ankara Summit shows that the Organization of Turkic States’ field of activity is not limited to culture, economy and diplomacy but is also expanding into defence technologies and security.
However, these developments do not mean that the organization is turning into a NATO-like military alliance.
NATO is based on a treaty provision stipulating that an armed attack against one of its members is treated within the scope of collective defence. The Ankara Declaration of the Organization of Turkic States, however, does not declare such a collective defence obligation.
Therefore, the real significance of the summit is considered to be the strengthening of the groundwork for institutional cooperation in defence industry, training, technology and cybersecurity, rather than the establishment of a joint army.
Could Türkiye become the centre of the new defence cooperation?
The option of establishing the Defence Industry College in Türkiye indicates that Ankara could assume a more central role in defence industry cooperation in the Turkic world.
The combination of Türkiye’s production and technology capacity in the defence industry with the different security needs of Central Asian countries could lay the groundwork for developing joint training and technology projects in the period ahead.
However, the college’s establishment timetable, financing, participating countries and training model have not yet been announced.
The main question that emerged after the Ankara Summit is this: Can the Turkic states move beyond being countries that buy and sell defence products and transform into a new structure that develops joint technology, trains experts and conducts institutional cooperation in the field of security?
The 163-item Ankara Declaration does not yet give a definitive answer to this question. However, the defence industry college and cybersecurity council initiatives stand out as a noteworthy beginning for the future of security cooperation in the Turkic world.