Local firm to manufacture handguns at US facility

Samsun Yurt Defense Industry, one of Turkey's leading defense industry companies on a global scale, will manufacture sub-compact size handguns in its U.S. factory located in Florida.
Turkish handgun manufacturing company Samsun Yurt Defense has further expanded its scale. Accordingly, the company, which exports its handguns to many countries, has taken another step forward in this regard by establishing a production center in the U.S. The handguns that will be manufactured in the factory established as a result of an intensive process will enter the world market from here.
Cahit Utku Aral, board member and general manager of the company said that the company, which was established as part of the defense industry 20 years ago, meets 75% of Turkey's handgun exports alone. "We are among the top 10 brands in the world," he noted, stressing they mainly produce light weapons and sell over 250,000 handguns all over the world annually. "Our goal is to reach 450,000-500,000 units in all the products we manufacture," Utku added.
Aral emphasized that they also provide domestic supplies apart from exports. "We manufacture Turkey's national handguns, meeting the needs of our law enforcement agencies," Aral continued. "Besides, the weapons we manufacture are used by law enforcement agencies in many countries of the world as well. Our police forces and soldiers currently use the handguns manufactured by Samsun Yurt Defense Industry. We want our country's law enforcement agencies to have the most equipped weapons."
Aral further elaborated on the production facility they established this year in the U.S. "The U.S. has a policy to protect domestic production. Therefore, it is not possible to export some small arms to the U.S.," he said. Recalling that they realized a project in this framework and established their manufacturing facility in the U.S. as part of this project, Aral said they started production with an investment of approximately $10 million in their U.S. facility. "That is where we started the production of our sub-compact weapons. The weapons we manufacture there are distributed to the North and South American markets," Aral said.
He explained that the TP9 SFX, a handgun developed for shooting sports, has achieved great success due to its features. "In 2017, it was chosen as the handgun of the year in the U.S. In 2019, we started a joint project with Salient Arms International (SAI), in which our TP9 Elite Combat model was selected as the handgun of the year," Aral stressed. "In our TP9 Elite Combat model, we have consolidated the handguns used for both shooting sports and duty. We protect our products with patents because we are a company that does not follow but is followed thanks to what we do in this sector."