Undersecretary for Defense Industries, İsmail DemirDaily Sabah: What does Qatar have to offer the Turkish defense industry?Professor İsmail Demir: One of the foreign political tools Turkey uses in its approach to problematic areas in the Middle East is the position it has achieved in defense and security areas. Today, Turkish defense products are highly in demand in the Middle East, and it also receives good feedback from the products it sells. Qatar also approaches the problems in the region from the same point of view as our country, and that is why it is considered as our leading strategic partner. The high-tech technological systems and platforms developed as a result of the leap observed in Turkey in the defense industry field could all be shared with Qatar without any restrictions. Qatar's proactive approach against regional problems has also resulted in the country's decision to reserve an important part of its budget for the defense industry. In this respect, Qatar is both a cooperation partner and a door to the Gulf region for Turkish defense industry firms.D.S.: What should be the business model of Turkish firms in Qatar?İ.D.: While Qatar doesn't have large armed forces in terms of numbers and requires relatively fewer systems and platforms, it wishes to establish a self-sufficient defense infrastructure. Therefore, instead of direct sales of systems and platforms to Qatar, Turkish firms might make better progress in Qatar through business models based on partnerships on a project basis and shared partnerships with the related firms. In this respect, I believe, it might have various positive outcomes like in the BMC example.D.S.: What are the opportunities and risks Qatar and the Gulf region pose for Turkey?The Gulf region together with the Asia-Pacific region is one of the few regions where defense expenses are increasing. Therefore, it offers great opportunities for our systems and platforms that have proven themselves. The only problem in this region is some of the sub-systems of platforms and systems we produce are subject to export restrictions to certain countries. I can say our main agenda is to customize the sub-systems of these unique platforms.D.S.: How would you rate the power of the Turkish defense industry against local threats?Turkey has been fighting against a separatist terror organization for the past 30 years [the PKK]. In this respect, the Turkish Armed Forces, as the second largest armed forces in NATO, is more experienced and successful in unconventional warfare than conventional warfare. The Turkish Armed Forces mainly uses systems that have been developed for the concept we define as homeland security by our defense industry, and the industry has produced unique products that are not foreign-dependent from land platforms to coast guard boats, from remote controlled weapons to electro-optic devices. We have also initiated new R&D projects for foreign-dependent systems and consumption materials.D.S.: What is the position of Turkey in the $150 billion defense industry market in the Gulf region?We believe the Gulf region is striving to become an important actor in the defense industry sector ruled by the U.S., the U.K. and France and also dominated by Russia, China and South Korea. Our difference from these countries is our cultural and historical links in the region. However, the shares we have of the increasing defense expenses in the region are not enough. We believe we can improve this situation since the countries in the region do not want to only be buyers anymore. Therefore, as the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, we are trying to increase joint ventures established by private or public institutions in the region and Turkish defense industry companies to increase our market share.D.S.: What are your suggestions to firms participating in the Qatar event?I believe if our companies perceive Qatar as a country they can make long-term investments in, then they can increase their business activities. They can reveal their products that are in the development stage and that are estimated to have a good market share to Qatar authorities. If they can get the attention required, I believe they will be forming partnerships in the future as well.D.S.: What is the ratio of domestic products in the defense industry with the latest investments? What are the short-term goals?The ratio of domestic products has increased to 60 percent in the sector. However, we are mostly interested in the qualitative side of this. Technologies that we consider as crucial are those that we have to import from outside and where we encounter export restrictions abroad. The main reason why we are interested in such technologies is not economic but to decrease our international dependency. Products that are not subject to any export restrictions are obviously open for competition, and the prices are the same for all the producers. However, having critical technologies also increases the locality in terms of money.