A fresh start in Türkiye-Iraq relations

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I was in Baghdad and Irbil as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s delegation on …
  • President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official one-day visit to Iraq on Monday. He was accompanied by a large delegation, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, Energy Minister Alpaslan Bayraktar, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdülkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumaklı and Minister of Industry and Technology Fatih Kacır. Many high-ranking Turkish officials also accompanied President Erdoğan.
  • Over the last decade, Türkiye’s defense industry has developed rapidly, and its products have repeatedly proven their military capabilities. The rapid defeat of the Ukrainian army against Russia was largely prevented by the TB2 drone, which has become a global brand in Türkiye’s defense industry. Similarly, in Nagorno-Karabakh, the TB2 proved to be a game-changer in favor of Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia. In addition to Syria, it helped Türkiye become a geopolitical player in the conflicts between northern Iraq and Libya. At this point, TB2 has shown that it is not only a military platform but also the dominant player in Türkiye’s defense market, with Baykar alone accounting for $1.7 billion (TL 54.6 billion) of Türkiye’s exports in 2023. However, the TB2 is only the most visible sign of a new era for Türkiye’s defense policy.
  • In his addresses on the occasion of the Aug. 30 Victory Day, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan frequently underscored the imperative of bolstering Türkiye’s military prowess, emphasizing that this stance is not a mere option but a necessity. He avered: “Our bitter experiences have taught us that a robust Türkiye hinges on a strong military. Enhancing the deterrent capabilities of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is not a choice; it’s a necessity for our nation.” While historically, the discourse “strong army, strong Türkiye” was largely employed within the context of Kemalist military narrative to establish the TSK’s supremacy over Turkish politics and reinforce its superior position over political matters, Erdoğan reinterprets it as a pivotal component of a more expansive political narrative.

Bu Konuda Daha Fazla

  • The Century of Türkiye refers to unity politics instead of identity politics; instead of the politics of polarization, the politics of integration; instead of the politics of denial, the politics of embracing; the politics of freedom instead of the politics of domination; the name of substituting the politics of love for the politics of hate, he outlined.

  • In this report in the first section, the emerging unmanned military platforms and smart systems produced by Turkey and their impact on military norms and practices in several conflict areas will be discussed. In the second section, the questions of how these technologies are shaping Turkey’s ties with buyer countries, trends, and competition in the drone market will be answered

  • In termini di conseguenze militari, economiche e politiche, la scommessa ucraina di Putin avrebbe una brutta sconfitta e si trasformerà in un suicidio strategico per Putin e il suo Paese.

  • En términos de consecuencias militares, económicas y políticas, la apuesta de Putin por Ucrania resultará en una derrota muy mala y se convertirá en un suicidio estratégico para Putin y su país. Todos los signos apuntan a este hecho.

  • What is the content of the agreement? Why did Poland prefer the Bayraktar TB2 drone? What are the possible implications of the agreement?