MSB's weekly information meeting was held at HAVELSAN's Ankara Technology Campus. Ministry Press and Public Relations Advisor and Ministry Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, said that HAVELSAN, which was founded in 1982 and continues its activities within the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, has made significant contributions to the development of the domestic defense industry with its solutions in the fields of command and control, simulation, training, autonomous systems, cyber security and information and communication technologies developed for the defense, public and private sectors. Aktürk congratulated HAVELSAN's 44th anniversary and said, "ADVENT, Türkiye's only and proven combat management system, which makes significant contributions to the network-supported operational capability of our Naval Forces, by HAVELSAN; Air Combat Information System, one of the world's most comprehensive command and control information systems developed to support the operation, intelligence and flight training processes of our Air Forces; BARKAN, an unmanned ground vehicle that can be used effectively in reconnaissance, surveillance and support missions, with its heavy load carrying capacity and high mobility." KAPGAN, an unmanned land vehicle that responds to different operational needs, BOZBEY, which can perform vertical landing, take-off and fully autonomous missions without a runway, BAHA, developed for under-cloud reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence missions, SANCAR, an unmanned sea vehicle developed for reconnaissance, surveillance and port security, command control and decision support systems that support the joint operation of land, sea and air elements, advanced simulation and training systems used in aircraft, tank, submarine and combat training, artificial intelligence-supported defense technologies, cyber security solutions and critical information and communication systems. "Many strategic projects are being developed and implemented, including
Rear Admiral Aktürk stated that 3 PKK terrorists surrendered within the scope of anti-terrorism and border security activities and said, "The detection and destruction of mines and hand-made explosives and caves, shelters and shelters in the operation areas continued. In the last week, 404 people trying to cross illegally were caught at our borders, where security is established at the highest level on a 24/7 basis, and 701 people were prevented before crossing the border. Thus, from January 1 until today." "The number of people caught while attempting to cross the border illegally has reached 6 thousand 19, and the number of people prevented from crossing the border has reached 41 thousand 830," he said.
Rear Admiral Aktürk stated that they condemn the attacks carried out by Israel against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine and said, "We bring to the attention of the international community that these and similar actions prevent permanent peace and stability in the region. These attacks, which are a reflection of Israel's occupation and annexation policies, aim to undermine the negotiations that have reached the final stage. We reiterate that the parties' completion of the negotiations with a constructive understanding will serve the peace, prosperity and stability of our region and the world."
'34 TONS OF AID DELIVERED TO VENEZUELA'
Aktürk underlined that the Turkish Armed Forces support humanitarian aid activities in full coordination with relevant ministries and institutions at home and abroad. Rear Admiral Aktürk said, "Following the earthquakes in Venezuela, our Natural Disasters Search and Rescue (DAK) teams of our Turkish Armed Forces Humanitarian Aid Brigade Command and our AFAD personnel, who reached the region on June 27 with 2 A400M aircraft belonging to our Air Force, completed their rescue activities and returned to our country on July 15. Approximately 34 tons of shelter and health supplies have been delivered to Venezuela to date."
Following Rear Admiral Aktürk's statement, the ministry made a statement regarding current issues. Regarding the status of the S-400 air defense systems, the statement said, "Activities regarding the S-400 long-range regional air and missile defense systems continue in a multifaceted manner. When concrete situations occur, they will be shared with the public."
Regarding the decision taken in the European Parliament on the Cyprus issue, "We strongly reject the unfounded, irrational and despicable allegations and the decision taken by the European Parliament targeting our heroic Turkish Armed Forces regarding the 1974 Peace Operation that saved the Turkish Cypriot people from extinction. This decision, which ignores the massacres, mass graves and years of inhumane attacks suffered by the Turkish Cypriot people, is a clear evidence of the insanity in the European Parliament and the unilateral approach based on Greek propaganda." Innocent women, children and the elderly were massacred by the terrorist organization EOKA, which destroyed 103 Turkish villages and displaced approximately 30 thousand Turkish Cypriots in line with the goal of Enosis since 1963. It is tragicomic that those who ignore the massacres committed in front of the whole world in Bloody Christmas, Ayvasıl, Muratağa, Sandallar and Atlılar, try to blame our Turkish Armed Forces today; Within the framework of its legitimate rights and powers arising from the agreements, it put an end to the attacks targeting the existence and security of the Turkish Cypriot people with the Cyprus Peace Operation, saved the Turkish Cypriot people from extinction, and established peace and security on the Island. The presence of the Turkish military on the Island continues to be the guarantee of peace, security and stability for more than half a century. "The Turkish Armed Forces are now more determined than ever to give the necessary response to any hostile attitude targeting the security of the Turkish Cypriot people."
Regarding the port visit to Syria, it was stated: "We believe that expanding the harmonious relations between our country and the Syrian Arab Republic to different areas, establishing new collaborations and improving the capacity of the Syrian Naval Forces will contribute to the stability of the region. In this context, our Naval Forces commander and his accompanying delegation visited Syria on 13 July 2026 in order to strengthen military cooperation and coordination between Turkey and Syria in the field of maritime and to discuss issues of common interest to the two countries."
'DEFENSE COOPERATION GOOD INTENTION LETTER WAS SIGNED'
In the statement, the following was said regarding Türkiye-Egypt defense relations:
"There is a strong common heritage between Turkey and Egypt based on deep-rooted historical and cultural ties. As a result of the recent mutual high-level visits between Turkey and Egypt, military cooperation has also gained significant momentum. In order to strengthen the dialogue in the field of defense and security, the scope of cooperation has been expanded with mutual contacts at the level of military delegations; concrete steps have been taken in the fields of military training, joint activities and defense industry. In June 2026, first in Egypt and subsequently in Türkiye, with the participation of air elements, the scope of cooperation was expanded. The exercises made significant contributions to the development of interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries, increasing the joint operational capability and strengthening mutual experience sharing. In this context, bilateral defense and security issues and issues regarding the development of cooperation were discussed in the meetings held in our country between our Minister of National Defense and the Egyptian Minister of Defense, and the "Letter of Good Intent on Defense Cooperation" was signed after the meetings. "It reveals the common will and shows a strong will to further deepen the relations, which are strengthened by historical ties, on the basis of mutual trust and common interests, and to develop new areas of cooperation that will contribute to regional peace, stability and security."