It was the most talked-about topic in recent days! Minister Fidan puts an end to the 'KAAN' discussions.

05.10.2025 01:20

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated regarding Turkey's national combat aircraft KAAN, "There are open and covert obstacles imposed on Turkey. It is my duty to lift these sanctions. As long as I receive such a request from our relevant institutions, I am obliged to remove them. If the other side cannot provide me with a reasonable explanation, my national security requires me to obtain it from elsewhere."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, who went to New York City, USA, as part of the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), answered questions from the press on September 28 at the Türkevi. Fidan's statement here, "The engines of KAAN are waiting in the US Congress, the licensing process is stalled," ignited a new debate. The fact that the engine of the national combat aircraft KAAN, which is planned to enter the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces in 2029, is produced in the USA has led to discussions by some circles regarding the concepts of 'domestic' and 'national.'

MINISTER FIDAN PUTS AN END TO 'KAAN' DEBATES

Finally, in a live broadcast where he was a guest on TRT News, Minister Fidan made evaluations regarding the agenda and also addressed the discussions about KAAN engines.

Here is the relevant part of Minister Fidan's evaluations:

"Now, why is disinformation done? This is a matter that is already included in basic propaganda books. We used to do a lot with this even while in intelligence. In fact, disinformation, manipulation, black propaganda, and especially the issues of inciting discord as a part of the political struggle in Turkey have always been present. I do not pay much attention to these areas, given the importance of the issue. They can go on at their own level and situation. In fact, the issue of Turkey's national security is an incredibly significant matter, far above these. If we go to the artificially created discussion areas produced through this disinformation and black propaganda, because no one here has anything to do with the truth. There is a propaganda understanding that wants to produce using that."

Here, I said I do not care about this propaganda, but I want to emphasize one point here. That is, not because it is important in itself, but because of the actors it addresses. Here, a discussion area has emerged that disrespects and does not see the efforts that enable our localization and nationalization in the defense industry. I frankly reject and condemn this vehemently. I mean, there are thousands of engineers here, I have been a firsthand witness for so many years, starting from the National Intelligence Organization, who have produced very serious works. There are so many companies like Aselsan, TAI, Roketsan, Havelsan, Baykar, BMC, and many others I cannot name. There has been a struggle for years that all of them have contributed to. Look, there is a localization rate that has increased from 20% to 80%. This is not something to be underestimated."

"WE HAD TO USE ALMOST 60 TO 70% OF THE PRODUCTS"

While doing this, we did one more thing. Why do people buy our products? I mean, while we were in the National Intelligence Organization, we had to use almost 60% to 70% of these products. We used UAVs, we used armed UAVs, we used munitions, we used electronic warfare devices, we used infantry rifles. Our Armed Forces, together with us, used missiles in the operations they entered, we provided intelligence. We entered joint operations, we conducted operations ourselves. We fought in Syria, we fought in Iraq, we went to many countries whose names I cannot mention, and we fought there. We are still in the midst of operations. We have always shared all the data we obtained from here with our engineers and companies to get to this point."

I mean, I am both a user and a contributor to the advancement of this, a handful of us have been dealing with these issues uninterruptedly for the last 20 years. Now, as a firsthand witness of the defense industry, I find it quite troubling that some criticize the localization and nationalization efforts here, given how much sacrifice has been made."

"YOU NEED TO TAKE DIPLOMATIC MEASURES IN ADVANCE"

On the other hand, it is also necessary to say this. I mean, I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey today. There is a matter in the task schedule I received after becoming a minister. I told my friends that there are areas that need to be advanced through diplomacy. I mean, in the Palestinian issue, the establishment of a regional security framework, the resolution of conflicts, finding new markets, moving into new energy areas, and dozens of other issues. One of the most important of these is Turkey's visible and invisible encirclement areas. The visible encirclement areas are the alliance areas created against Turkey. There are alliance areas being attempted to be created in the Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean; we see these, and we develop diplomatic measures for them. If you do not develop diplomatic measures on certain issues, the matter will be handed over to your military, to security agencies, and more will happen. In other words, you need to take the diplomatic measures you can in advance."

"MY DUTY IS TO LIFT THESE SANCTIONS"

There are also open and covert restrictions and sanctions imposed on Turkey that need to be resolved diplomatically. Now I told my friends: "What sanctions do we have in the defense area against Turkey, both open and closed? What lists and which countries has our Defense Industry Presidency provided us? Where are the key products produced by our key companies under restriction? In which munitions used by our Air Forces are there problems? In which ones used by our Naval Forces?" There are many such things. In these, there is one issue: While localization continues, the things that need to be used currently and the issues requested by the Armed Forces and the Defense Industry from us also need to be lifted. We have been working on this for 2 years. I mean, we have lifted some from Canada, we lifted the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and most of the issues in Germany have been largely resolved. Some of the issues in America have been lifted, some remain."

Now, my duty is to lift these sanctions. As long as such a request comes from our relevant institutions regarding the lifting of these sanctions, I am obliged to lift them. However, while I am trying to lift this, if the other side cannot provide me with a logical explanation for any reason and we cannot advance the issue, my national security requires obtaining these from elsewhere.