What did Türkiye really achieve in its defense industry?

The world is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. The name of this transformation has not yet been fully defined. But its signs are now visible everywhere. The United States is trying to bring critical technologies back to its shores. China is deepening its production capacity. Europe is putting industrial policies back on its agenda after years of neglect.

At first glance, these developments appear independent of each other, but in fact they point to a single truth: the development paradigm of the 21st century is being rewritten.

For many years, the primary measures of economic success were producing at lower cost, attracting more foreign investment, and integrating more strongly into global trade chains. Today, these alone are no longer considered sufficient. Because competition is no longer just between companies. Competition is between the production, technology, and innovation ecosystems that countries build.

The Real Question of the New Era

In recent months in this column, I have discussed the erosion of Europe's competitiveness, China's industrial ecosystem model, and how investment decisions are increasingly shaped by geopolitical priorities. Looking back, I realize that all these articles have actually been circling the same question: What will truly make countries strong in the new era?

I do not seek the answer to this question solely in more investment, more incentives, or larger factories. In my opinion, the answer lies in building ecosystems capable of producing sustainable success in strategic sectors.

The Unseen Power of the Defense Industry

When evaluating a tree, we often look at its fruit. The bigger the fruit, the stronger we think the tree is. But a good gardener knows that what keeps a tree standing is not its fruit, but the unseen root system beneath the soil.

At exactly this point, Türkiye possesses a very important experience that we often evaluate only through its security dimension: the defense industry.

Today, when we talk about the defense industry, we naturally talk about unmanned aerial vehicles, warships, radar systems, air defense systems, and other high-tech platforms. Each of these is a rightful source of pride for Türkiye.

What Türkiye achieved in the defense industry is not producing weapons—it is building a system that produces success.

The ability of public institutions to act in alignment with a common goal; the private sector's capacity to make long-term investments; universities producing knowledge; the development of an R&D culture; supply chains that grow alongside prime contractors; trained human resources; a focus on critical technologies; and strong coordination that brings all of these together toward the same strategic objective… The products we see today are the fruits of this invisible root system.

Toward the MSEM

If Türkiye was able to build this system in the defense industry, then why can it not do the same in other strategic sectors of the future?

Recently, while studying the defense industry, I believe I have encountered clues pointing to a broader development approach. In the coming weeks, I will continue discussing this approach under the title of the National Strategic Ecosystem Model (MSEM – Milli Stratejik Ekosistem Modeli).

What I mean here is not a proposal for a new incentive package or a new institutional structure. The real issue is to correctly read the logic that produces success in the defense industry and to transfer it to other strategic sectors that will determine Türkiye's future.

Because I believe that Türkiye's future competitiveness will depend not on searching for new success stories, but on correctly understanding the system behind its existing success and being able to reproduce it.