Secretary Lorenzana Visits Turkey for the International Defense Industry Fair 2017, Bilateral Meeting with Turkey’s Minister of National Defense

Bilateral Meeting between Mr. Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines and Mr. Fikri Isik, Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Turkey and their respective delegations. Photo credits: Mr. Manuel Oira

18 May 2017 ANKARA, TURKEY — Philippine National Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana led a 15-member delegation to Turkey comprised of ten officials from the Department of National Defense and five personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Ankara on May 10.

The Philippine delegation participated in the International Defense Industry Fair 2017 (IDEF’17) at the Tuyap Exhibition Center in Istanbul and conducted activities in Ankara from May 09 to 12 as part of the visit. Secretary Lorenzana’s trip is the first visit of a Philippine Defense Secretary to Turkey.

The Philippine delegation attended the opening ceremony of IDEF’17. Turkey’s Minister of National Defense and President of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TAFF), Fikri Işık, and Deputy General Manager of the TAFF, Sadık Piyade, delivered speeches to those present, which included Heads of State, Defence Ministers, the diplomatic corps, as well as Presidents and CEOs of various defence companies from around the world.

The Ministers were given a brief tour of the exhibition hall, which featured Turkey’s biggest defense companies, and were also given a tour of the Istanbul Shipyard where they were shown modern facilities, equipment, multi-purpose support vessels, boats and ships.

Secretary Lorenzana and his counterpart, Minister Işık, held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of IDEF’17 to discuss defense relations between the Philippines and Turkey. After the bilateral meeting, a Declaration of Intent on Defense Industries was signed by Philippine Undersecretary for Finance and Materiel, Raymundo DV. Elefante, and his counterpart, Turkish Deputy Undersecretary for Defense Industries of the Turkish Ministry of National Defence, Köksal Liman. Secretary Lorenzana and Minister Işık witnessed the signing.

In Ankara,  Sec. Lorenzana laid a wreath at Ataturk’s Mausoleum, signed the Book of Honor and visited the Ataturk Museum. The delegation also visited the Headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) and the Microelectronics Guidance Electro Optics (MGEO).

For more information, visit www.ankarape.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PhilembAnkara. END

Secretary Lorenzana lays the wreath at Ataturk’s Mausoleum. Photo credits: Mr. Cristopher Baguya