Türkiye, Hungary consider joint defense projects

Türkiye and Hungary are discussing joint defense projects in the context of Europe's changing security needs, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated at a press conference in Istanbul following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Report informs via TRT Haber.

"We have decided to make maximum use of existing economic and trade mechanisms. We also see that our strategic partnership in the defense industry, carried out through concrete projects, positively impacts trade and investment. Taking into account Europe's changing security environment, we are evaluating prospects for implementing joint production projects that will elevate our cooperation in the defense industry to a higher level," Erdogan emphasized.

Touching on trade and economic relations, the Turkish president noted that the two countries are close to reaching their target of $6 billion in trade turnover: "Considering the great trade potential between our countries, we discussed updating this target to raise trade turnover to $10 billion," he added.

Prior to the press conference, Erdogan and Orbán held a meeting of the Türkiye–Hungary High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. As a result of the meeting, 16 agreements and cooperation memoranda were signed in the fields of energy, industry, trade, transport, culture, and education.