SAHA 2026, which reveals the current state of the Turkish defense industry, was completed with more than 150 thousand visitors, more than 75 country delegations and foreign export contracts worth approximately 8 billion dollars. SAHA 2026 International Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair, held at Istanbul Expo Center with the organization of SAHA Istanbul, Turkey’s and Europe’s largest defense, aviation and space industry cluster, has ended.
The closing meeting of the fair, of which Anadolu Agency (AA) is the Global Communication Partner, was held with the participation of SAHA Istanbul Vice President and ROKETSAN General Manager Murat İkin, ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol, Machinery and Chemical Industry (MKE) General Manager İlhami Keleş, TEI General Manager Mahmut Faruk Akşit, TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu and SAHA Istanbul General Secretary Levent Kerim Uça.
At the meeting, the fair’s contributions to the sector and the statistics achieved were shared. Murat İkin, in his speech here, stated that the organization broke records this year and drew attention to the intense interest shown in the fair. Stating that SAHA 2026 was held in a closed area of 400 thousand square meters, he said, “More than 150 thousand visitors, this number continues to increase, visited SAHA 2026. In addition, an international export project worth approximately 8 billion dollars was signed.
This is a much higher figure than the previous SAHA fair. In fact, it is one of the most obvious indicators of the momentum and development of the Turkish defense industry and the interest from abroad. We have realized it with the participation of many countries.” We hosted delegations of more than 75 countries at SAHA 2026.” he said. Emphasizing that the introduction of more than 200 new products by Turkish defense industry companies is one of the most important success elements of the fair, Ikinci noted that the organization proves the highly motivated and innovative structure of the Turkish industry in the international arena.
“Countries that imposed embargoes were at SAHA for cooperation.” ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol stated that they completed SAHA with the highest participation to date and emphasized the density of European-based visitors. Stating that Turkey is in a critical position for the security of Europe with its defense industry power, it was seen once again during the contacts at the fair, Akyol said: “We are now a country that is followed and sets trends in the defense industry.
This fair has become an indicator of this. The whole world is here to follow, ‘What has Turkey done, what is being done in Turkey?’ This was also an important issue. The fact that the country, which had experienced many problems with us, including the embargo, on various occasions before, came here today to ask ‘what can we do’ shows the point we have reached.” “It was a subject that confirmed the power of Turkey and the power of our nation.
It was a truly great, successful, useful and productive fair in all its aspects. The Turkish defense industry will continue to make its mark on the world with the support of the nation and the leadership of its state, and to continue on its path with innovations.” 55 foreign ministers and deputy ministers were hosted at the fair. MKE General Manager İlhami Keleş reminded that SAHA 2026 started with an area of 5 thousand square meters in 2015 and stated that the point reached has reached surprising dimensions.
Stating that they have attended fairs in many parts of the world, but have never seen this ambience in any of them, Keleş said, “We hosted 55 foreign ministers or deputy ministers in this fair. Such a favor is not possible in any fair. Turkey’s international positioning, the rapid acceleration of the Turkish defense industry and its trade character, which is directed towards partnership rather than customer-seller relations, especially in technology transfer, attract serious attention.” he said.
Nearly 30 thousand B2B meetings for the supply chain. TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu also drew attention to the strategic negotiations carried out in the background as well as the showcase face of the fair. Explaining that producing solutions by bringing together SMEs and the companies that make up the supply chain is one of the essential features of SAHA, Demiroğlu said, “SAHA had a quiet side, and that was about 30 thousand B2B meetings.
This is the feature of SAHA, by bringing together SMEs and companies that make up the supply chain, to discuss the problems encountered and future plans and produce solutions for them. SAHA has shown that this has been achieved successfully. Nearly 30 thousand meetings also show that indicator.” he said. International engine sales and new collaborations TEI General Manager Mahmut Faruk Akşit emphasized that the fair was extremely productive in terms of collaborations, sales and supply chain.
Akşit stated that they signed 3 sales contracts at the fair, one of which was international and involved a significant amount of sales, and added: “These include engine sales. We signed a cooperation agreement with an international institution.” gave the information. The next meeting will be on 16-20 May 2028. SAHA Istanbul Secretary General Levent Kerim Uça stated that they have left behind the 5th organization of the adventure that started in 2018, and noted that they have improved further in quality and quantity with each fair.
Uça announced that the next leg of the organization, which is growing in parallel with the development of the defense industry, will be held on 16-20 May 2028. Source: AA
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