ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday welcomed an agreement under which Spain will procure Turkish-made HURJET training aircraft, describing it as evidence of Turkey's "pioneering role" in defence and aviation industry.
Under the deal, signed this week, the Spanish Air Force will acquire 30 HURJET aircraft from Turkey in a contract valued at around 2.6 billion euros, according to Turkish officials.
Speaking at an event in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey had become a globally recognised player in the defence and aviation sectors.
"Most recently, the agreement we concluded with Spain has confirmed our country's pioneering role in this field," Erdogan said.
He added that the inclusion of HURJET in the inventory of a European Union and NATO member state would further expand Turkey's opportunities in the coming years.
On Tuesday, Haluk Gorgun, head of Turkey's defence industry agency, described the agreement as more than a simple aircraft sale.
"This is not merely a training aircraft deal," Gorgun said. "It is a comprehensive package that includes ground systems, simulation systems, maintenance and sustainment services, as well as a cooperation model."
He added that the agreement underscored the deepening of defence industry and high-technology cooperation between Turkey and Spain, noting that the aircraft configuration would be updated over time to meet Spain's specific operational requirements.
Turkey has steadily expanded its defence exports in recent years, including drones that have been sold to multiple countries.
Erdogan said Turkey's defence exports, which stood at $248 million in 2002, had increased nearly 40 fold to reach $9.8 billion in 2025.
Turkey's Erdogan hails 2.6bn euro jet deal with Spain
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Turkey's Erdogan hails 2.6bn euro jet deal with Spain
- Under the deal, Spain will procure Turkish-made HURJET training aircraft
Hundreds flee to government-held areas in north Syria ahead of possible offensive
- Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas
- Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes
DEIR HAFER, Syria: Scores of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria on Friday ahead a possible attack by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters east of the city of Aleppo.
Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked with barriers at a checkpoint that previously was controlled by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Associated Press journalists observed.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. The announcement appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo.
There were limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
In other areas, people crossed canals on small boats and crossed a heavily damaged pedestrian bridge to reach the side held by government forces.
The SDF closed the main highway but about 4,000 people were still able to reach government-held areas on other roads, Syrian state TV reported.
A US military convoy arrived in Deir Hafer in the early afternoon but it was not immediately clear whether those personnel will remain. The US has good relations with both sides and has urged calm.
Inside Deir Hafer, many shops were closed and people stayed home.
“When I saw people leaving I came here,” said Umm Talal, who arrived in the government-held area with her husband and children. She added that the road appeared safe and her husband plans to return to their home.
Abu Mohammed said he came from the town of Maskana after hearing the government had opened a safe corridor, “only to be surprised when we arrived at Deir Hafer and found it closed.”
SDF fighters were preventing people from crossing through Syria’s main east-west highway and forcing them to take a side road, he said.
The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo, previously Syria’s largest city and commercial center, that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighborhoods north of the city that were then taken over by government forces.
The fighting broke out as negotiations stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached in March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.
The US special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, posted on X Friday that Washington remains in close contact with all parties in Syria, “working around the clock to lower the temperature, prevent escalation, and return to integration talks between the Syrian government and the SDF.”
The SDF for years has been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Daesh group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkiye.
