NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted Turkey's rapid rise in the defense industry ahead of the Ankara Summit on July 7-8. Rutte stated that a defense industry day with broad participation will be organized during the summit, where the opportunities offered by the sector will be showcased.The summit is expected to announce new defense contracts worth tens of billions of dollars. The NATO Secretary General also referred to the historic decisions made at the Hague Summit last year, which included allocating 5% of the members' gross domestic product to defense.Rutte mentioned his visit to Turkey in the spring and his meeting with young engineers at ASELSAN, emphasizing the company's critical role for NATO:
Turkey's largest defense electronics company, ASELSAN, is leading Turkey's defense industry revolution, which will benefit all of our members.
He noted that the Ankara Summit will be a crucial meeting demonstrating the implementation of the allies' commitments in defense spending, defense industry production, and deterrence, and stated:
I think the Ankara Summit is really very important. Maybe even more important than the Hague Summit. Because now we will see the implementation of the commitments made.
