Turkey Outlines Phased Joint Exercises and Defense-Industry Cooperation

Turkey's defence ministry, briefing in Ankara, lays out how the Mecca pact's military cooperation will be staged: command-post and field exercises first, followed by joint land, naval and air drills plus air-defence and unmanned-systems training. Defense-industry cooperation is to move beyond procurement into joint development and production, technology sharing, and long-term maintenance/logistics support, with emphasis on unmanned systems, electronic warfare and AI. A strategic/political/military mechanism grouping defence ministers, foreign ministers and chiefs of general staff is planned. The goal, per the ministry, is to put defence ties on a "more institutional and sustainable" footing.