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<\/p>\nBelgium and T\u00fcrkiye have inked nine defense-related agreements, a top Belgian official said in Ankara on Wednesday after high-level talks with his Turkish counterpart.<\/p>\n
“Today was a really big step forward,” Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken told Agence France-Presse (AFP) after talks with Defense Minister Ya\u015far G\u00fcler, in the framework of a four-day economic mission led by Belgium’s Queen Mathilde.<\/p>\n
The move comes as European nations seek to reinvigorate their defense industries in light of the threat from Russia and the risk of a U.S. disengagement from NATO.<\/p>\n
Francken was speaking at a defense and aeronautical networking event at the Belgian ambassador’s residence in the Turkish capital.<\/p>\n
Six of the defense-industrial agreements were signed in Ankara on Wednesday, and another three in Istanbul on Monday, Francken’s office said in a statement, without saying what they were worth.<\/p>\n
“Belgium and T\u00fcrkiye have taken a major step toward a long-term strategic defense partnership through the signing of a high-level letter of intent between the ministers of defense,” it said.<\/p>\n
“These agreements reflect the deepening of bilateral defense relations from political dialogue into concrete industrial and military cooperation.”<\/p>\n
Belgium also expressed its support for T\u00fcrkiye accessing the EU’s 150 billion euro ($176 billion) SAFE initiative, a defense scheme aimed at strengthening European defense capabilities.<\/p>\n
Francken said the contacts covered Belgian and Turkish investments as well as “joint cooperations” without going into detail, while expressing interest in buying Turkish drones.<\/p>\n
“Yes, that would be great,” he said, noting any such move would be subject to European procurement rules.<\/p>\n
‘An incredible range of sectors’<\/p>\n
“T\u00fcrkiye is really a country with great strength in defense, the second largest power within NATO, so of course it’s important to also have collaborations and cooperations with their industry,” he told AFP, saying the aim was to sign further contracts next year.<\/p>\n
“That’s the ambition,” he said, adding that the Belgian delegation had signed “a lot of contracts in other areas as well, it was not only in defense.”<\/p>\n
Belgium was also interested in a wide range of other areas, from biotech to public health, logistics and transport, he said.<\/p>\n
“There’s an incredible range of sectors.”<\/p>\n
The letter of intent foresees intensified cooperation between the two nations in military capability development and defense industry collaboration.<\/p>\n
Belgium also agreed to let Turkish officers study at its Royal Military Academy in Brussels.<\/p>\n
“The strategic importance of T\u00fcrkiye in the rearmament and defense-industrial strengthening of Europe is obvious. Europe cannot afford to neglect the huge potential here,” Francken said in the statement.<\/p>\n
“Fostering industrial partnerships among NATO allies should be a main goal for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara. And also for the EU. That is why Belgium is advocating to include T\u00fcrkiye in future SAFE programs.”<\/p>\n
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