Turkish defence company ASELSAN seeks to reduce Azerbaijan's external dependence in the military industry.

“Our president (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) has demonstrated incredible will in this area for 20 years. Today, the share of the products of the local defence industry in the Turkish troops is 80%. Cooperation between the two fraternal countries continues in all areas. In the sphere of the defence industry, the priority is the issues of joint production,” Chairman of the Board and General Director of ASELSAN Haluk Görgün said.

According to him, joint ventures in the defence industry will be organised in the future.

"We strive to reduce Azerbaijan's external dependence on the military industry, provide access to critical technologies through technology exchange projects and strengthen this industry by creating local employment," added the head of one of Turkey's leading defence corporations.

Azerbaijani Defence Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, during a meeting on November 23 in Baku with a delegation led by Haluk Görgün, noted "positive steps in the military and military-technical cooperation with fraternal Turkey." At the same time, the head of the Azerbaijani military department underscored the high quality of the technical equipment of the ASELSAN company, which was used during the 44-day war in Karabakh in the fall of 2020.

Before the war in Karabakh, Western think tanks specialising in the study of the world arms market pointed to Israel and Russia as the largest suppliers of military products to Azerbaijan. For the period 2015-2019, Baku imported 60% of its weapons from Israel, 31% - from Russia, and 3.2% - from Turkey, according to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published on March 9, 2020.

In January-April 2021, Azerbaijan purchased arms and military equipment from Turkey for more than $117 million.