13.05.2026 13:51
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken, who visited Turkey with a delegation of 428 people, stated that Turkey has made significant progress in its defense industry, particularly in new technologies, innovation, and R&D. Francken said, 'What I saw at Baykar was unbelievable. As I return to Belgium, I told my colleagues that Turkey is far ahead of us, way ahead, and we need to speed up.'
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken stated that Turkey has made significant progress in the defense industry, especially in new technologies, innovation, and R&D, saying, "What I saw at Baykar was unbelievable. I told my colleagues on the way back to Belgium that Turkey is far ahead of us, far ahead, and we need to speed up."
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Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken spoke at the "Turkey-Belgium Defense Industry Day" event held at the Presidency of Defense Industries. Francken emphasized that they were in a room full of entrepreneurs with many business plans and opportunities, and said the most important thing to do today is networking.
"WE WILL SIGN SOME CONTRACTS THIS EVENING"
Francken stated that in foreign trade, the most important things for him are "connections and contracts," and these connections are present here today. The Belgian Minister said, "We will sign some contracts this evening. Yes, I think 7 or 8. One or two are pending. I hope we will find a text and common ground and sign an agreement tonight. That is the most important thing."
"TURKEY IS FAR AHEAD OF US AND VERY ADVANCED"
Francken recalled visiting Baykar three years ago with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) and noted:
"What I saw at Baykar, all those competencies, new technologies, innovation, R&D efforts, determination, and growth were unbelievable for me. On the way back to Belgium, I told my colleagues: 'What I saw last week was truly impressive. Turkey is far ahead of us, very advanced, and we need to speed up. We must also modernize our army and armed forces and make a shift towards more unmanned capabilities, innovation, and adaptation of our armed forces. That's what they do here. That's what we need to do.'"
Explaining that the first thing he did as Minister of Defense was to appoint the world's first "drone general," Francken said, "Belgium is strengthening our armed forces for defense. We are increasing our budget by 60 percent. We are making the largest increase among all NATO allies, and we will do even more in the future."
Francken emphasized that many opportunities exist and they hope to start evaluating them today.
"A HISTORIC VISIT FOR OUR DEFENSE INDUSTRY"
Haluk Görgün, President of the Presidency of Defense Industries, also highlighted the importance of the friendship beginning between the defense industries, forces, and capabilities of the two countries. Görgün explained that this cooperation could be brought together for both countries' own needs, allies, and third markets as much as possible. Görgün noted that the matter was first discussed at a NATO Summit involving both sides, where mutual exchange of ideas took place.
Görgün recalled that Belgian Defense Minister Francken visited the IDEF International Defense Industry Fair. Emphasizing that Francken did not limit his contacts to the fair and came to Ankara to also examine defense industry companies, Görgün said, "Of course, the visit of Her Majesty and this large delegation from Belgium is indeed a historic visit for our defense industry. We believe both sides will contribute to this visit and take relations between the two countries to the next level."
"WE WILL HAVE MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS TO ANNOUNCE"
Görgün emphasized that the companies and businesspeople visiting Ankara are interested and highly motivated, and continued:
"Moreover, we are not limited to just 7-8 contracts; we are open to cooperation at every level from platform level to system and sub-system levels. We have over 4,000 companies working for the defense industry in Turkey. Therefore, we have many solutions in every field. Similarly, Brussels also has very strong capabilities. I am sure that thanks to this visit, we will have many more new developments to formalize and announce before the NATO Summit and Defense Industry Forum."
Görgün thanked the guest ministers and their delegations and added that as the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), they hope to see the results, analyze them, and provide the greatest contribution.
QUEEN'S ECONOMIC MISSION WITH 428 PEOPLE
Belgium's 'Economic Mission' delegation arrived in Istanbul under the chairmanship of Queen Mathilde. The last visit was 14 years ago, and the Queen is accompanied by 428 private sector representatives.
The delegation led by Belgian Queen Mathilde, visiting Turkey as part of the 'Economic Mission', arrived in Istanbul on May 10.
The plane carrying Queen Mathilde and her delegation landed at Istanbul Airport yesterday at 12:00. The Belgian Queen and her delegation were welcomed at the airport by Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and officials. The delegation led by the Queen includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot, Defense Minister also responsible for foreign trade Theo Francken, Brussels Capital Region Government Prime Minister Boris Dillies, Flemish Region Government Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele, Walloon Region Government Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet, and 428 private sector representatives.