The Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV) will bring the licensed products of its companies to visitors with the “Foundation Store” it opened at the SAHA 2026 International Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair, and will contribute to the strengthening of the Turkish army with all the income generated. SAHA 2026 International Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair is being held at Istanbul Expo Center with the organization of SAHA Istanbul, the largest defense, aviation and space industry cluster of Türkiye and Europe.
At the fair, where Anadolu Agency (AA) is the Global Communication Partner, TSKGV put into service the Vakıf Store, which contains various licensed products from textiles to accessories of ASELSAN, TUSAŞ, ROKETSAN and HAVELSAN. In his evaluation to the AA correspondent, TAFF General Manager Bilal Topçu said that SAHA and the international defense industry fair IDEF were one of the best platforms where they exhibited the point that the Turkish defense industry has reached so far.
Stating that they opened the Foundation Store at the fair this year, Topçu said, “We had actually opened this store at IDEF before. It all started with the idea of building a culture in 2024.” Our journey in the defense industry is actually a journey that our nation embraces very much.” he said. Topçu reminded that ASELSAN, TUSAŞ, ROKETSAN, HAVELSAN, İŞBİR and ASPİLSAN, all under the umbrella of TSKGV and the foundation, were established with the donations of the nation.
Stating that the troubles and embargoes experienced during the Cyprus Peace Operation period led citizens to make large donations to campaigns such as “build your own plane” and “build your own ship”, Topçu said, “With these donations, these companies and this foundation were established. There is a very strong bond between our nation, our defense industry and our army. We operate as a foundation that establishes and maintains this bridge of love between the Turkish Armed Forces and our nation.” he said.
“We know that the Turkish nation is also proud” Topçu pointed out that Turkish defense industry products have recently begun to attract the attention of citizens and stated that they have proven themselves not only in Turkey but also in the world. Pointing out that these products are not only products that increase Turkey’s war power and defense power, but also require serious technological depth, Topçu continued as follows: “If we ask, ‘What is the name of the fifth generation warplane?’, everyone on the street today can say KAAN.
Everyone knows the name of our HÜRJET. In fact, in the defense industry, everything from small drones to missiles are given beautiful and Turkish names. Our Presidency of Defense Industries follows this very closely. There is a very nice ecosystem. This is what we do, in order to continue this culture.” “We came up with the idea of selling the licensed products of our foundation companies under the roof of the Foundation Store.
This has become a reality.” Topçu reminded that they first opened the Vakıf Store at IDEF 2025, and then opened a large store of 350 square meters at TEKNOFEST Istanbul. Underlining the intense interest of citizens in the Vakıf Store, Topçu said, “We really wanted our young people, our children, to travel with very nice products and brands made by Turkish engineers, brothers and sisters, instead of traveling with foreign characters of foreign countries, to be proud of the Turkish defense industry and to be a part of this story.” he said.
Stating that they hosted 1000 people on the first day of the fair and more than 2 thousand products were sold, Topçu said that they will continue to provide service in the temporary store throughout the fair. Sharing the information that the store can be accessed online at any time, Topçu continued his speech as follows: “They will buy products that they can wear with pleasure from here, and in this way, they will contribute to our foundation and the defense industry.
We have sentences explaining this message on the label of every product we sell, shopping here is a very sacred purchase.” Maybe we cannot stop the wars, there is a bad atmosphere in the world, but at least there are ASELSAN, ROKETSAN, TUSAŞ and HAVELSAN who develop our weapon systems and defense systems to increase our deterrence so that the fire does not fall on Turkey and we can stay on the safe side. We are proud of these.
We know that the Turkish nation is also proud. We will continue to share this pride together in our foundation store.” “Our goal is to reach more people and convey the message of the foundation to more people.” Stating that KAAN and Atak helicopter models attract the most attention in online sales, Topçu said, “Apart from that, we have ASELSAN, ROKETSAN, TUSAŞ and HAVELSAN branded products in textile products. In some of them, we have KAAN t-shirts and Atak helicopter t-shirts, which are more product-oriented.
Our designers worked on very beautiful designs. I can say that the interest is mostly models and then textiles. In other words, sales on the internet are based on models, but there is also a wide range of textiles, from children’s and baby clothes to bomber jackets right behind us.” he said. Topçu emphasized that since Vakıf Mağaza is a company that donates all its income to the foundation, every purchase goes to support the Turkish army.
Stating that they have actually opened their third store, Topçu said, “Our goal is to reach more people and convey the message of the foundation to more people. We are planning to open our TEKNOFEST stores in Şanlıurfa, hopefully during the Ethnosport Festival, in the coming days. But our citizens can always access the licensed products of our foundation and foundation companies through the Vakıf Store website.” made his assessment.
Source: AA
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