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Türkiye and Finland have signed a Defense Industry Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing defense cooperation between the two NATO allies through joint production, technology sharing and capability development.
The agreement was signed by Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries head Haluk Gorgun and Finland's Director General for Resource Policy and National Armaments Director Olli Ruutu, marking a significant step in bilateral defense relations.
Defense Industry President Gorgun emphasized the strategic importance of the agreement, stating, "The memorandum of understanding we signed with Finland opens the door to a new era in the areas of joint production, technology sharing and capability development."
Gorgun announced on his X account that the agreement aims to "develop and bring to the best level the defense industry cooperation between NATO allies Türkiye and Finland."
Gorgun highlighted the broader strategic implications of the partnership in his X account statement: "Strong partnerships are the foundation of sustainable peace and shared security vision. This cooperation, which will strengthen NATO's deterrence, is also an important step towards Europe's defense industry integration."
He added, "The memorandum of understanding we signed with Finland opens the door to a new era in the areas of joint production, technology sharing and capability development. We unite the spirit of alliance with our industrial vision and deepen our contribution to Euro-Atlantic security."
The defense cooperation agreement comes after significant diplomatic progress between the two countries. In 2023, Türkiye approved Finland's accession to NATO, with the vast majority of the Turkish Parliament voting in favor of the northern European country joining the defense alliance.
Finland's Defense Ministry announced in 2023 that it had lifted the military equipment export embargo to Türkiye that had been in effect since 2019 and granted licenses for sales. The ministry also announced that it had issued the first commercial export license for military materials to Türkiye.
Finland had suspended its export license in October 2019 due to Türkiye's military operation in Syria. The arms sales permission was one of the conditions that Türkiye put forward for approving Finland and Sweden's NATO membership.
The resolution of the arms embargo issue represented a crucial step in normalizing relations between the two countries and facilitating Finland's NATO accession process.
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