Minister Bak: Domestic Production Rate in Defense Industry Reached 85%

Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak arrived in Muğla for a series of official visits and inspections. Minister Bak met with the athletes of the National Canoe Team at the Water Sports Camp Training Center in the Köyceğiz district, and then carried out inspections of the sports hall and swimming pool in the Ula district. Following his visits to the Menteşe Atatürk Stadium and the Muğla Governorship, he attended the AK Party Provincial Advisory Council Meeting. Speaking at the meeting, Minister Bak stated that Turkey has experienced a revolution in sports facilities and that the most modern facilities in the world have been built. He emphasized that giant steps have been taken across the country with the sports vision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

One of the most important issues on Minister Bak's agenda was solving the accommodation problems of higher education students. Bak stated that as a ministry, they have reached a bed capacity of 1 million in dormitories and that they continuously increase this number with the investments made in recent years. He stated that 6 thousand beds have been added in Muğla alone in the last few years and that new buildings with a capacity of a thousand beds have been promised. He gave the good news that the accommodation problem will be completely eliminated with the dormitories that were demolished and rebuilt due to earthquake resistance works in Bodrum and Menteşe regions. He also stated that state dormitories are of strategic importance in order to prevent young people from falling under the influence of different communities and to raise them as individuals who unite with the nation.

Also touching upon the anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt in his speech, Minister Bak emphasized the importance of this event in terms of democratic history. He reminded that the Turkish nation showed an epic resistance in front of the tanks that night by taking to the squares upon the call of the President. He described how the treacherous plans of the coup plotters and the foreign powers supporting them collapsed in the face of the will of the Turkish people. Minister Bak stressed that the whole world saw the determination of the Turkish people, that the coup plotters were buried in the squares, and that only the nation will decide the future of the country. He stated that Turkey, which emerged victorious from this great test, resolutely maintains its course as a regional and global power.

Clarifying foreign policy and defense industry issues as well, Minister Bak recalled Turkey's strong stance at the NATO Leaders' Summit. He stated that the strong dialogues President Erdoğan established with all world leaders as a global leader have increased Turkey's effectiveness in the international arena. He expressed that Turkey assumes a decisive and indispensable role in the restructuring process of NATO. He proudly announced that Turkey has significantly reduced its foreign dependency in the defense industry, raising the rate of domestic production to 85%. He noted that some of the world's largest and most powerful defense industry companies now operate in Turkey and that the country has gained full independence in this field.

Stating that countries formerly seen as allies used to sell Turkey only used equipment that turned into scrap, Minister Bak emphasized how vital it is to break this chain of dependency. Today, however, he explained that with the power of Turkish engineering and the domestic industry, gigantic projects such as the Altay tank, the TCG Anadolu ship, and the National Combat Aircraft KAAN have been successfully produced. Stating that Turkey now designs and produces its own weapons, rifles, cannons, and tanks, he drew attention to the importance of the national technology epic. He stated that the country is not at the disposal of any foreign power, but only at the disposal and service of the Turkish nation. He added to his words that they will continue to walk together with the nation with the vision of a new Turkey that has a free, independent, and powerful infrastructure.