Turkey’s Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz
Turkey’s Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has submitted the country’s 18.2-billion-lira (USD 10-billion) military budget for 2012 to the Turkish parliament, Press TV reports.
Attending the parliament’s planning and budget commission on Friday, Yilmaz also announced ambitious defense projects including the production of national military aircraft.
The minister noted that Turkey will begin producing a domestically-made helicopter within five years and its own fighter jets in 10 years.
He added that the country has also launched a project to set up a home-made missile defense system.
In October, Turkey announced that it will begin the mass production of its first domestically-made cruise missile, named SOM, in 2012, as part of Ankara’s plans to reduce defense reliance on foreign countries.
Meanwhile, Turkey has boosted the budget of its National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in response to public anger over the death of two dozen Turkish soldiers in a recent battle with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group.
Turkey’s MIT and the security forces will receive an additional USD 6 billion from the defense industry support fund, provided by the government.
DB/AS/AZ/HJL
via PressTV – Turkey unveils $10bn military budget.