Erdoğan seeks to expand Turkey's defense industry cooperation with Iran

Duvar English 

Turkey is looking forward to a deepening cooperation with Iran in the defense industry, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on July 19.

"It is possible to accelerate this process with the steps that we will take in the defense industry. This can be accelerated with the steps to be taken in both oil and natural gas fields. Turkey has undertaken important progress in especially the defense field in recent years. I care very much about our solidarity with regards to this issue,” Erdoğan said in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Erdoğan said that both Turkey and Iran suffer from terrorism. “PKK, PYD, YPG, and FETÖ terrorist organizations are troublemakers both for Turkey and Iran. We need to continue the fight against them in solidarity,” Erdoğan said.

The two leaders co-chaired the 7th Meeting of the Turkey-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council to enhance bilateral cooperation, and signed a total of eight agreements in the areas of trade, social security, and sports.

Erdoğan also said he believed that the countries will increase the bilateral trade volume to $30 billion. "Unfortunately, we faced a serious setback due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As of now, we have reached $7.5 billion. I believe that the two countries will reach $30 billion again."

Later in the day, Erdoğan, Raisi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet for the 7th Trilateral Summit Meeting in Astana format to discuss the latest developments in Syria.

The fallout from the war in Ukraine and food security are also expected to be discussed in the meetings between the leaders.