Ankara: As the war between Israel and Iran escalates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he plans to strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities so that no country would dare attack it, Associated Press.
Erdogan announced plans this week to step up Turkiye's production of medium- and long-range missiles.
Erdogan discussed the Iran-Israel war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone call on Friday. He told Merz that the Iranian nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiations, according to Erdogan's office.
Despite Turkiye's tense relations with Israel, analysts and officials don't see an immediate threat of the conflict spreading into NATO-member Turkiye. Still, some see the move by Erdogan as a sign that the Israel-Iran war could trigger a new arms race in the region, with countries not directly involved in the fray ramping up their military efforts to preempt future conflicts.
Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Beykoz University, said that Turkiye was reacting to what he described as an unravelling world order.
“The Turkish government is drifting toward what is the name of the game in the Middle East right now: an escalation of an arms race,” he said.
Israel and the US have set a high standard in aerial warfare, creating a technological gap that Turkiye and others are eager to close, Han said.
Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday that “we are making production plans to bring our medium- and long-range missile stockpiles to a level that ensures deterrence, in light of recent developments." “God willing, in the not-too-distant future, we will reach a defence capacity that is so strong that no one will even dare to act tough toward us," Erdogan said.