Signatures were signed to keep the name of Turkey's First Aircraft Factory TOMTAŞ alive

The “Joint Venture Agreement” of TOMTAŞ Aerospace and Technology Inc., which will be established to keep the name of TOMTAŞ, which was established in 1925 as Turkey's first aircraft factory, was signed with a ceremony attended by the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar.

Minister Akar stated at the TOMTAŞ Aviation Joint Venture Agreement Signing Ceremony that TOMTAŞ, the first aircraft factory established in 1925, was one of the best aviation factories of the period with the aircraft it produced between 1928-1941.

Stating that the activities of the factory were unfortunately interrupted due to some reasons, Minister Akar said, “It has remained a bitter memory in our aviation history.” he said. Stating that a great synergy has been created with the initiative to keep the name of TOMTAŞ alive, Minister Akar said, “We will achieve new successes in the defense and aviation industry with the support of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, ASFAT, TUSAŞ, TOMTAŞ Investment and Erciyes Technopark. We believe that TOMTAŞ' unfinished sad story will turn into a great success story with the work you will do here. Our Kayseri, which is one of the most important industrial cities of Turkey and has deep-rooted experience in the field of defense and aviation, will also host this structuring.” used his statements.

Wishing the initiative to be beneficial, Minister Akar asked Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Memduh Büyükkılıç to allocate the land until January 15th.

Stating that the rate of local and nationality in the defense industry has reached 80 percent with the leadership, support and encouragement of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister Akar stated that there are still important ways to go.

Stating that there were periods when Turkey could not buy the products for which it paid for the defense industry, Minister Akar said:

“As our President said, 'we will cut our own navel'. UAV / SİHA / TİHA, other products that we have made so far are all in the middle. These are developing rapidly. Until yesterday, the patent of the rifle used by Mehmetçi belonged to the foreigner. We had no pistols, no machine guns. At the point we have reached now, we have made all our light weapons, howitzers, helicopters, UAV/SİHA/TİHA, sea cannon. We have come to the point of designing, manufacturing, constructing and exporting war weapon tools and equipment. We export MİLGEMs. We've come a long way, we still have a long way to go. Now the genie is out of the bottle. We will build both the tank and the plane, and we will ensure the defense and security of our country, our noble nation.”

After the speeches, the Joint Venture Agreement was signed by TOMTAŞ Investment Board Chairman Ali Ekşi, TUSAŞ General Manager Temel Kotil and ASFAT General Manager Esad Akgün.

Deputy Minister of National Defense Muhsin Dere, as well as the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Gen. Zakir Hasanov, who was in Kayseri for the Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan Defense Ministers Meeting, attended the signing ceremony.