Turkish defense chief receives Indonesian counterpart

By Sarp Ozer

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s defense chief hosted his Indonesian counterpart in the capital Ankara on Thursday.

Hulusi Akar met Prabowo Subianto in a military ceremony at the Defense Ministry.

The two had private talks following the official ceremony and participated in discussions held by Turkish and Indonesian delegations.

Security and cooperation in military and defense industries were the headlines of the meeting.

Jakarta and Ankara have strong relations in boosting the defense industry.

Indonesian military products manufacturer PT Pindad and Turkish armored vehicle producer FNSS signed an agreement in 2015 to produce medium tank prototypes.

The design phase started in February 2016 and the tank was introduced to the public during the Indo Defense Exhibition in November of the same year.

The two countries also collaborated in the procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Turkish Aerospace Industry joined the bidding for the UAVs last year, but the result is yet to come out.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas