Turkey and Kazakhstan signed an agreement yesterday to establish a joint venture for the production and maintenance of the Turkish ANKA combat drone, as part of plans to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the defence industry.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, oversaw the signing on Thursday of a total of 13 bilateral agreements relating to investment, energy, defence, education, media and infrastructure, coinciding with the Turkish leader’s official visit to Astana, which, in addition to strengthening relations between Türkiye and Kazakhstan, is linked to Erdoğan’s participation in the informal summit of the Organisation of Turkic States.
As reported by the Turkish news agency Anatolia, the agreements reached include provisions on the mutual protection of investments, the opening of cultural centres and schools run by Turkey’s Maarif Foundation, joint scholarship programmes, cooperation between the Turkish broadcaster TRT and Kazakh state television, energy projects between Turkish Petroleum and KazMunayGas, investments in Almaty airport, and funding for hospitals, amongst others.
According to Turkish media reports, one of the 13 agreements signed between the two countries relates to the defence sector: the document provides for the creation of a joint venture for the production and maintenance of the ANKA drone developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Under the agreement, representatives from both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the joint venture responsible for manufacturing and maintaining these drones, with the aim of developing production, maintenance and technical support capabilities for the ANKA platform in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan already operates several ANKA drones following the signing of a purchase contract with Ankara in late 2021, with deliveries completed in 2023. Turkey is currently one of the world’s leading manufacturers and exporters of unmanned aerial vehicles; Turkish drones such as the Bayraktar TB2 gained international notoriety after being used by the Ukrainian army to halt the advance of the Russian army, as well as in Azerbaijan and North Africa.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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