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Indonesia looks to closer security, defense trade with Turkey: Ministry
The Defense Ministry has announced that it is strengthening security and trade ties with its Turkish defense counterpart, but gave no further details.
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Prabowo Subianto salutes journalists before his first working meeting as Defense Minister with lawmakers on Nov. 11, 2019 at the House of Representatives. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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efense Minister Prabowo Subianto has discussed strengthening cooperation in security and trade with Turkish officials during his recent visit to the country, the Defense Ministry says.
“He continued more intense talks regarding cooperation in the defense industry with the Turkish defense industry,” ministerial spokesperson Dahnil Simanjuntak told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Turkey's president of Defense Industries, Ismail Demir, separately confirmed the meeting with Prabowo on his official Twitter account, @IsmailDemirSSB.
“We held a meeting with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his delegation. At the meeting, we exchanged views on cooperation and export issues in various fields, especially UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], marine and land vehicles,” Demir posted in Turkish on July 22.
Endonezya Savunma Bakanı Prabowo Subianto ve beraberindeki heyet ile toplantı gerçekleştirdik.
Toplantıda, başta İHA'lar, deniz ve kara araçları olmak üzere çeşitli alanlarda işbirliği ve ihracat konuları üzerinde görüş alışverişinde bulunduk. 🇹🇷🇮🇩 pic.twitter.com/WjywPmCh2p
— Ismail Demir (@IsmailDemirSSB) July 22, 2020
In November 2019, Prabowo visited Turkey to meet with Demir, Defense Minister Hulsi Akar and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the latter of whom affirmed Turkey’s “special relationship” with Indonesia during the meeting, including in defense.
The visit was part of the minister’s tour to several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, China, Russia, South Korea and France, shortly after assuming his ministerial post.
In February 2020, state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad announced that it would begin producing 18 modern medium weight tanks (MMWTs) in a collaborative venture with Turkey's FNSS Defence Systems. The two countries reportedly signed the US$135 million manufacturing deal in April 2019.
The MMWTs are called Kaplan in Turkey and Harimau (Tiger) in Indonesia.
Earlier in 2018, state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (formerly IPTN) announced that it was collaborating with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI/TUSAŞ) to produce UAVs, although no progress has been reported since.
The Turkish armed forces have also been a customer of the CN-235 transport aircraft, manufactured by IPTN and Spain's CASA.
