- Mozambique hopes to make use of the experience of Turkey in building up its own defence industry
By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) - Mozambican Defence Minister Cristovão Chume led the Mozambican delegation at a two-day forum on Tuesday and Wednesday in Maputo, discussing defence cooperation with Turkey. He said, “This forum is an instrument for the transfer of technology, which is fundamental to developing local capacities and for the creation of a robust and sustainable national defence industry”.
Chume added the forum is not just an institutional meeting. "It is a strategic platform designed to meet the requirements of a regional and global context which demands the continual strengthening of our defence and security forces”.
Heading the Turkish side was the Secretary of the Turkish Defence Industry, Haluk Gorgon, who told reporters, “We have begun this forum as a first step to share our experiences and technologies and to seek sustainable cooperation based on technology applied to the defence industry”.
Gorgon said this cooperation is based on an agreement signed in December 2023. He added that Turkey is now exporting defence equipment to over 180 countries, and has formal defence agreements with 19 countries, including Mozambique.
Gorgon claimed that Turkey has great experience in fighting against terrorism. But asked whether Turkish terrorists had taken refuge in Mozambique, he said there were some disagreements between the two countries, but gave no details.
He was presumably referring to supporters of the late Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen, who have been running schools in Mozambique. The Turkish government accused Gulen of masterminding an attempted coup in 2016. (MT)
