Türkiye allocates trillions to defence

Türkiye plans to increase spending on the procurement of weapons and military equipment for national defence by 229% in 2027.

TodayPress TV reports that Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced the plan while presenting the draft budget for next year.

According to defence industry publication SavunmaSanayiST, the 229% increase will also apply to funding allocated for the procurement of weapons, ammunition, weapon systems and other military equipment. Yılmaz did not provide a detailed breakdown of the expenditure items.

He said that 2.2 trillion Turkish lira (approximately $44.6 billion) had been earmarked for defence spending in 2027. A further 1.2 trillion lira is planned for domestic security.

“Our goal is to build a Türkiye that develops its own technologies in the defence industry, can independently meet its own needs and produces goods with high added value,” Yılmaz stressed.

He also reported a significant increase in Türkiye’s defence exports.

“In 2002, exports from the defence and aerospace industries totalled just $248 million. By the end of 2025, this figure had increased 40-fold to reach $10.05 billion,” he said.

Aysel Matlab