Abstract
This edition of Türkiye Defence Dispatch surveys key defence, security, and foreign policy developments involving Türkiye during the second half of January 2026. It highlights Ankara’s accelerating defence-industrial momentum, marked by advances in UAV swarming, progress across indigenous aviation programmes including KAAN and ANKA III, and expanding naval construction and exports under the MILGEM framework. The dispatch also captures Türkiye’s growing footprint in global defence markets, with notable engagements in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Gulf, and South Asia, alongside intensified defence diplomacy at platforms such as DIMDEX 2026. Beyond hardware, the newsletter tracks Türkiye’s evolving regional posture—ranging from NATO deployments and security engagement in Somalia to calibrated diplomacy on Gaza, Iran, and the Black Sea–Caucasus connectivity space. Pakistan–Türkiye defence and trade ties, particularly in naval cooperation and market-access negotiations, receive focused attention.
