The combination of Ukraine’s combat experience and Turkey’s manufacturing capabilities could make the two countries key players in shaping a new balance of power in the Black Sea region.
Can Kasapoglu, a senior fellow and defense analyst at Hudson Institute, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
“Türkiye and Ukraine are compatible defense partners. Both possess large, deterrence-driven, combat-experienced armed forces that serve as natural end-users and laboratories for their national industries – a rarity in Europe,” Kasapoglu said.
The expert stressed that both countries have mature drone ecosystems extending beyond aviation into land and maritime robotics.
“Baykar’s Akinci and Kizilelma programs, alongside MILGEM corvettes rebuilding Ukraine’s Navy, show this partnership is already cross-domain,” Kasapoglu said.
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He also highlighted the role of the Bayraktar TB2 in the development of Ukrainian-Turkish defense cooperation. He noted that Ankara had imposed no restrictions on the combat use of these systems, continued supplying them to Ukraine throughout the war, and did not provide similar systems to Russia.
According to the expert, the issue of Crimea is also an important foundation for the strategic rapprochement between the two countries.
“Türkiye will never recognize its illegal occupation and annexation, as a matter of international law and because of historic bonds with Crimea’s Turkic peoples and the Crimean Tatar community,” he said.
At the same time, Kasapoglu believes that after the war, Ukraine-Turkey cooperation should move beyond individual agreements toward joint production of engines, autonomous systems, sensors, missiles, maritime robotic systems and ships, as well as their maintenance and support.
“Combining Ukraine’s wartime adaptation with Türkiye’s NATO-grade manufacturing scale can make two of Europe’s most capable militaries central to a new Black Sea balance,” the expert said.