Major fair kickstarts with latest Turkish defense products on display

SAHA Expo Defense, Aviation and Space Industry Fair, organized by SAHA Istanbul, Europe’s largest industrial cluster, opened its doors on Tuesday to defense experts and professionals.

The fair brought together 750 domestic and 250 foreign companies from 57 countries.

SAHA Expo Secretary General İlhami Keleş, in a written statement, said that the fair is an international arena for technologies that are a game changer, innovative and where Türkiye’s brand value comes to the fore.

Saying that they saw a great interest in the fair from the beginning, Keleş noted that domestic and foreign products would be promoted during the 4-day event.

General Manager of prominent Turkish defense company Roketsan, Murat İkinci, also said that the fair is important for all the companies that make up the Turkish defense industry and the entire defense ecosystem to showcase their capabilities.

“SAHA Expo creates opportunities for defense and aerospace-related companies from various parts of the world to improve their relations with Türkiye,” the Roketsan official said.

İkinci also commented that the interest in missile technologies that Roketsan has made for the Turkish defense industry, particularly the smart ammunition used by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including the world-famous Bayraktar TB2, “shows that we will reach our targets very quickly in the coming period.”

İkinci added, “As Roketsan, we will have a surprise for you. We will introduce a new product for the first time at SAHA Expo.”

STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz, for his part, stated that they are working hard to find new subcontractors and to develop cooperation with them, adding: “The fair is very active. The number of incoming delegations is quite high.”

“There are countries, institutions and companies that we meet in the field of military maritime. We will hold meetings with the participating countries within the scope of the fair,” he said.

Expressing that SAHA Expo is an important opportunity for new business potentials, Güleryüz said they have created a good environment for all companies in the defense ecosystem that can serve the defense and aerospace field in Türkiye.

The fair, which can be visited by international and Turkish professionals on Oct. 25-27, will be open to the public only on Oct. 28.

The fair is expected to host 30,000 professional visitors at Istanbul Expo Center.