Türkiye and Saudi Arabia will boost their cooperation in the defense industry, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday during his return flight from Cairo, also suggesting that his country's homegrown stealth fighter jet Kaan has been praised and that there could be a partnership with Riyadh in this area.
"We have received a lot of positive feedback on Kaan. There is a joint investment with Saudi Arabia in this area, and we can implement this partnership at any moment," Erdoğan was quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA) as telling reporters.
Ankara and Riyadh signed "major" defense industry cooperation deals, Erdoğan stressed, expressing Türkiye's determination to expand them.
"We have deep-rooted relations with Saudi Arabia that have cultural and historical dimensions. We signed important agreements during this visit to further develop these relations," Erdoğan said.
"The progress our country has made in the field of defense industry is being followed with interest by Saudi Arabia, as it is by the whole world," he added.
"We are primarily focused on meeting our own needs in the defense industry. In addition, we also strive to meet the needs of our friends and brothers. We are signing important cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia in the field of defense industry and we are determined to develop this further," the president said.
"Kaan is not just a fighter jet. Kaan is a symbol of Türkiye's engineering capabilities and independent defense will," he asserted, when talking of Türkiye's domestically developed fifth-generation fighter jet.
"We have received much complimentary feedback about Kaan. As we become more influential in this field globally, these kinds of collaborations will certainly increase."
The president's remarks came after a two-day trip, firstly to Saudi Arabia and then Egypt, Ankara's major regional allies.
During the visit to Cairo, the two countries signed various agreements in different fields, including a military framework agreement.
Erdoğan on Wednesday also gifted Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi a Togg, Türkiye's homegrown electric car.
In Saudi Arabia, the two sides praised the strength of bilateral relations and highlighted ongoing coordination in areas ranging from trade and investment to defense, renewable energy and digital transformation. Officials noted that the two nations aim to align opportunities created under Saudi Arabia’s "Vision 2030" and Türkiye’s "Century of Türkiye" vision to boost non-oil trade, support major infrastructure projects and encourage private sector partnerships.
They also signed an energy agreement that covers an investment of about $2 billion to build two solar farms in Türkiye.
Under the deal, Saudi companies will construct a solar power plant in the provinces of Sivas and Karaman with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW) in the first phase.
Kaan is a fifth-generation warplane, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The jet was first publicly unveiled in 2023 before it performed its maiden test flight in early 2024. Its serial production is expected to begin in 2028.
Last June, TAI signed an agreement to sell as many as 48 Kaan jets to Indonesia, which would make the Southeast Asian nation the first buyer of the advanced aircraft.
Türkiye has invested heavily in the development of a wide range of aerial and naval platforms in recent decades, and its defense and aerospace sectors are now globally recognized.
Ankara already has a strong defense cooperation with Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, as major military and economic powers in the region, have achieved significant successes in regional policies through strengthened political and diplomatic relations in recent years.
