By Assoc. Prof. Enes Bayraklı
Turkey’s breakthrough in the defense industry has not yet been sufficiently studied academically.
Studies on this subject have mostly focused on the contributions of the development of the Turkish defense industry to Turkey.
However, in the Turkish defense industry, Turkey produces serious impacts at the global level.
Let us say at the beginning what we will say at the end.
Today, the Turkish defense industry offers an alternative third way to many underdeveloped and developing countries, from Africa to Asia, from Latin America to the Balkans, which are dependent on foreign countries with an asymmetric dependency relationship.
As is well known, there are only a handful of countries in the world that are influential in the defense industry.
These countries can be summarized as Western countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel, Russia and China, led by the United States.
While Western countries, led by the US, cooperate with each other on issues such as joint production and technology transfer, they pursue a policy of arms sales to non-Western countries that aims to maintain an asymmetrical dependency relationship between these countries and the West.
They do not sell some high-tech weapons to these countries. And because they agree to sell, they do not want to engage in co-production and technology transfer at all.
On top of that, they impose various restrictions on the use of the weapon systems they sell. If these weapons are used where they are not wanted, they impose embargoes on spare parts and ammunition.
The aim of all these policies is to preserve the superiority in weapons and technology that the West has established since the 16th century, and to prevent the rest of the world from catching up with the West and challenging its hegemony.
Arms and technology, together with finance, constitute the pillars of the West’s global hegemony.
With the breakthrough it has made in recent years, Turkey has aimed to break this asymmetrical dependency relationship. We can say that Turkey has come a long way in this area. If Turkey continues at this pace, in the next 20 years, it will have closed the gap between itself and the West in the field of military technology since the 16th century.
Countries outside the West that have a say in the global defense industry, such as China and Russia, are pursuing an imperial policy that will maintain an asymmetrical dependency relationship with the countries to which they sell arms.
We can say that the technological level of the weapon systems produced by these two countries is generally behind Western countries.
Many countries that were unable to purchase weapons from Western countries were dependent on Russia and China until Turkey’s rise in this field.
But today, Turkey is offering a third way to these countries, which have no alternative.
Today, Turkey is producing systems of Western standards and quality that can compete economically with Chinese and Russian weapon systems.
It exports these weapon systems without the heavy restrictions of the West, and is more flexible in terms of co-production and technology transfer.
Turkey’s rise has turned into a breathing tube for many countries, especially in Africa.
From counter-terrorism to smuggling, Turkey’s technological capabilities in many fields weaken the exploitative order that has been built around them and make them more stable states.
The coming period will be a time when the global effects of the rise of the Turkish defense industry will become more evident and discussed.
Source: dirilispostasi.com
