Day: August 19, 2021

At a major defense fair in Istanbul, Turkey’s top body for promoting science is showcasing new missiles tailor-made for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

“We’re showcasing new ammunition designed specifically for UAVs,” Gurcan Okumus, who heads the Defense Industries Research and Development Institute for the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), told Anadolu Agency.

The four-day International Defense Industries Fair (IDEF) began Tuesday in the Turkish metropolis.

Saying that the research institute previously updated the Bozok missile family for UAVs, he said now it is doing the same for Kuzgun missiles.

“There will be variants of the (100-kg/220-pound) Kuzgun, namely free-falling, jet engine, and solid-fueled,” he stressed.

He said the institute is working to adapt all ammunition for use by UAVs.

Telling how Turkish UAVs recently proved their mettle, he said they would be even stronger thanks to the new ammunition.

Defense industry analysts in Turkey and abroad have hailed the performance and growing market share of Turkish-made drones.

New guidance kits

Over the last decade, several Turkish defense and aviation firms, such as Aselsan, Baykar, Roketsan, and TAI, gained worldwide popularity and entered the ranks of the world’s top companies.

Touching on the guidance kits Gozde and Gokce, Okumus said these kits are used with the Max 82 and Max 83 bomb series.

The defense research institute developed these kits with new laser heads and wings for adapting UAVs to engaging moving targets, he stressed.

He added that the kits, which will be ready this year and next year, can also be used by planes and helicopters.

He also said that the institute is developing new product families for UAVs.

Source:Anadolu Agency

One more PKK terrorist has surrendered to Turkish forces, security sources told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

With the latest surrender, the number of terrorists who have laid down their arms through persuasion efforts this year now stands at 129.

The accused terrorist joined the PKK in 2016 and carried out terror activities in Syria and Iraq, said security sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In Turkey, offenders linked to terrorist groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source:Anadolu Agency

An ancient statue of the mythological goddess Hygieia – seen as the guardian or personification of health – has been discovered in an ancient city in western Turkey, according to a researcher.

“We unearthed a statue of Hygieia, known as the goddess of health and cleanliness, the daughter of Asclepius, the god of health in Greek and Roman mythology,” Gokhan Coskun, who coordinates the dig in the ancient city of Aizanoi, told Anadolu Agency.

Noting that the marble statue’s head is missing – the fate of much ancient statuary – Coskun, an archeologist at Dumlupinar University in central Turkey, said: “Unfortunately, it hasn’t survived to the present day, but in its current form, we can see that this statue is about the size of a human.”

“During past digs in Aizanoi, finds related to Hygieia were also found,” he said. “This situation makes us think that there may have been some construction and buildings related to the health cult in Aizanoi during the Roman era.”

Located near the town of Cavdarhisar in the Kutahya province, the site is also home to one of the best-preserved temples in Anatolia dedicated to Zeus, the thunderbolt-wielding king of the Greek Olympians.

Groundbreaking ancient site

Seen as boasting a history rivaling Ephesus, another iconic ancient city in Turkey, Aizanoi was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2012, with excavation efforts ongoing now for almost a decade.

Coskun said that around 100 workers and 25 technical personnel are working on digs at the nearly 5,000-year-old site.

“We’re trying to reveal the columned galleries on the west and south wings of the agora (bazaar) and the shops right behind them,” he added.

Coskun added that the statue of Hygieia – related to the modern word “hygiene” – was unearthed inside the columned gallery on the south wing of the agora.

Located 57 kilometers (35 miles) from the Kutahya city center, the ancient site saw its golden age in the second and third centuries AD and became “the center of the episcopacy in the Byzantine era,” according to the website of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Recent excavations around the Temple of Zeus indicate the existence of several levels of settlement in the city dating from as far back as 3000 BC. In 133 BC, it was captured by the Roman Empire.

In 1824, European travelers rediscovered the ancient site.

Between 1970 and 2011, the German Archeology Institute unearthed a theater and a stadium, as well as two public baths, a gymnasium, five bridges, a trading building, necropolises and the sacred cave of Metre Steune – a cultist site thought to be used prior to the first century BC.

Since 2011, Turkish archeologists have been carrying out the work at the ancient site. This year, the excavations were transferred to the Kutahya Museum Directorate.

Source:Anadolu Agency

Watford signed Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan on loan from Fenerbahce on Thursday.

“Watford FC is delighted to announce the signing of Turkey international midfielder Ozan Tufan from Fenerbahce, on a season-long loan with an option to buy,” the English Premier League club said in a statement.

“… Welcome to Watford, Ozan!” it added.

Playing in the center of the park, Tufan, 26, scored 21 goals and produced 24 assists in 174 appearances for Fenerbahce.

Before Fenerbahce, Tufan had played for Turkey’s Bursaspor, where he began his career.

He joined Fenerbahce in 2015 but had a half-season loan spell at Aytemiz Alanyaspor in 2019.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Fenerbahce thanked him for his contributions and wished the player the best in his career.

Tufan piled up 63 international caps to score nine goals for Turkey since 2014.

He is known for his passing skills and goalscoring ability outside the area.

Source:Anadolu Agency

A Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) producer Zyrone Dynamics has received a foreign investment from India worth $1 million.

Thirty percent of the firm’s shares – with a total valuation of $3.5 million – were bought by Indian DCM Shriram Industries, Murat Kanber, co-founder of the Turkish company, told Anadolu Agency.

At this week’s International Defense Industries Fair (IDEF) in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul, the two companies signed a partnership agreement, he stressed.

At the fair, the firm is showcasing two new UAVs, with the highest flying speed in its class, he said.

Defense industry analysts in Turkey and abroad have hailed the performance and growing market share of Turkish-made drones.

Kanber underlined that Zyrone Dynamics was established with the goal of being an international firm that brings foreign currency into Turkey.

With this move, the firm got large investment and gained a big sales channel, he stressed.

Both sides’ expectation is creating products for civilian use, especially for cargo transportation, he noted.

Now Zyrone will sell its products to India and its neighbors in the Asian market, after which it also hopes to export drones to Europe and Australia, Kanber stressed.

More than investment

DCM Shriram representative Rudra Shriram said the negotiation period – 18 months – with Zyrone was very difficult due to the pandemic conditions.

He said the agreement was successful and fair for both sides, with one boasting high technology and the other with extensive experience in manufacturing and management.

The partnership is more than just an investment, it is about creating a global UAV company for various applications in civilian and military fields, he said.

Source:Anadolu Agency

Following the killings of several aid workers since the outbreak of conflict in December 2013, the United Nations is now urging the transitional unity government in South Sudan to hold perpetrators accountable ahead of World Humanitarian Day.

Arafat Jamal, Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Country Representative for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), called upon South Sudanese authorities to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers for them to deliver services to people in need.

“We have to do more to ensure the safety of humanitarians. Humanitarians bring in around billions of dollars every year in South Sudan in our work,” he said.

“We are essential throughout all the 10 states and two administrative areas. We are working to help displaced people, especially women and children when there are floods and conflict. Still, the humanitarian community is not always treated with respect and dignity,” added Jamal.

“We all have to do more to ensure that people can go about their work without feeling insecure and ensure that when (any) attack on them (aid workers) happens, the government assumes its role to punish the perpetrators,” Jamal told Anadolu Agency in Juba.

World Humanitarian Day is annually celebrated on August 19th across the world.

The occasion always commemorates humanitarian workers killed and those injured in the line of duty.

At least four aid workers were killed in South Sudan in 2021 and 9 in 2020.

A total of 126 humanitarians, mostly South Sudanese, have lost their lives while providing critical assistance to people across the country since the conflict broke out in late 2013.

Jamal said aid workers will be honored for their unwavering commitment to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need in South Sudan despite the challenges they still face. He disclosed that justice must be seen to be done because most of the incidents have not been investigated conclusively, leaving perpetrators to go scot-free.

Humanitarian workers have been facing many challenges in South Sudan to deliver services to people; indeed, most of them faced severe threats, and others were killed.

One of the aid workers, who identified himself as Simon, said that South Sudan is one of the most dangerous countries for humanitarian workers, who risk their own lives daily, to meet South Sudan’s vast humanitarian needs to work freely without free.

He said that the armed gangs threatened them and demanded humanitarian aid intended for vulnerable people.

Deng Dau Deng, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation said that the government is taking immediate and effective measures to protect humanitarian workers from securing an atmosphere that guaranteed the safety of aid workers in the country.

He said that they are planning to strengthen law enforcement across the country to protect humanitarian workers.

“There are incidents of killing humanitarian workers that have happened and the government is putting in place measures to arrest and bring to book those criminals that have been targeting aid workers.”

Source:Anadolu Agency

A number of defense agreements were signed Wednesday at one of the world’s largest defense industry fairs which is being held in Istanbul, Turkey.

The four-day 15th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) began Tuesday under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency, hosted by the Turkish National Defense Ministry and organized by Turkey’s largest fair firm Tuyap under the management and responsibility of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation.

Turkey’s ULAK Communication Inc. and the Ankara Aerospace-Specialized Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ) signed a protocol for a communication project for campuses.

Ismail Demir, head of the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency (SSB), said during the signing ceremony that the importance of communications increases day by day.

The country’s communication systems and infrastructure should be smart, controllable, manageable and flexible, he added.

Leading software and systems company Havelsan and the Turkish Coast Guard Command signed an agreement to create a network system for the command.

Havelsan also signed an agreement with the SSB for augmented reality projects.

Demir said that augmented reality has become a necessity in the field in today’s combat environment.

For creating an entrepreneurship ecosystem, Teknopark Istanbul, a technology development zone established next to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, and Turkish defense and aviation giants Aselsan, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Roketsan, Havelsan, Turkish Engine Industries (TEI) and BMC signed a protocol called the “Strategic Solution Partnership.”

Within the framework of the program, cooperation, innovation and entrepreneurship activities will be supported.

Teknopark Istanbul and the SSB also signed another protocol called the “Cyber Security Acceleration and Incubation Program.”

Qatar’s Barzan Maintenance Shield QTSP LLC and Turkey’s Havelsan also signed a purchase contract.

Havelsan will provide maintenance, repair and management services for several military devices in Qatar for 36 months.

Turkish defense firms STM and Nurol Makina also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for armored vehicles’ integration activities.

– TUBITAK

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) also signed several agreements during the event.

TUBITAK signed a cooperation protocol with Asis Elektronik for the latest laser technologies and a project contract with Aspilsan for lithium-ion battery technologies.

TUBITAK and TRTEST meanwhile signed a contract for test services.

The council also signed agreements with the SSB, Aselsan, Asfat and TAI in several fields.

On Tuesday, there were also agreements signed between defense companies such as Aselsan and Armelsan.

Source:Anadolu Agency