The Middle East Institute was pleased to host a public webinar on Wednesday, October 15, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EDT, on “The Future of Turkey's Defense Sector”
Strengthening Turkey’s defense industry has long been a cornerstone of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s agenda, and in recent years, the country has made significant strides — emerging as one of the world’s largest defense exporters. Against this backdrop, one of Erdoğan’s top priorities during his recent White House visit was to clear obstacles to closer US-Turkey defense cooperation. He implored President Donald Trump to lift US sanctions imposed on Turkish arms manufacturers after Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile-defense system. The visit, however, yielded no tangible breakthroughs, leaving Turkey’s defense industry — and its ambitious effort to produce an indigenous next-generation fighter jet — in a challenging position amidst other, preexisting headwinds.
Can Turkey’s defense-industrial sector realistically overcome the obstacles that stand in its way of developing advanced military technologies? What is the future of US-Turkish defense cooperation, and can progress in this area help repair the broader bilateral relationship? How might Turkey’s arms industry plug into ambitious European rearmament efforts?
Speakers
Gonul Tol
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Iulia-Sabina Joja
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Jason H. Campbell
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Missy Ryan (Moderator)
Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Extended Speaker Biographies
Gönül Tol is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, where she focuses on Turkish politics and regional dynamics in the Middle East. A frequent commentator, Dr. Tol has written extensively on Turkish domestic and foreign policy for publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Financial Times.
Iulia-Sabina Joja is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, where she focuses on European and Black Sea security, with particular attention to defense, strategic cultures, and transatlantic relations. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and George Washington University, teaching European affairs and security. Before joining MEI, Dr. Joja served as an adviser to the Romanian president.
Jason H. Campbell is senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where he focuses on international security, geopolitics, and foreign policy. Prior to joining MEI, he was a senior policy researcher at RAND, where his work concentrated on strategic competition, the resourcing of US combatant commands, the evaluation of security cooperation programs, and the future of irregular warfare.
Missy Ryan (Moderator) is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She has covered the Defense Department and the State Department, worked as a foreign correspondent in Latin America and the Middle East, and reported from dozens of countries.