A six-member delegation of the Bangladesh Army led by Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed visited Turkey on a 07-day official visit. Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed reached Istanbul from Dhaka on 17 August 2021 at noon.
Bangladesh Turkey Defense copperation
Bangladesh turned into the fourth-biggest arms purchaser from Turkey, supposedly getting up to $60 million in weapons from Ankara in the initial four months of 2021. Turkey, a NATO member with a big military force, is a persuasive voice at the UN, OIC, and other worldwide gatherings and has been strong supporter of Dhaka’s position on the Rohingya issue.
Turkey gives off an impression of being closer relations with Bangladesh through its Asia Anew drive, directing its concentration toward nations including Bangladesh, a country with a $4.45 billion military spending for the monetary year 2021-22. In June 2021, Bangladesh signed a defense agreement with Turkey for buying various defense equipment from, a Turkish military hardware company and contractor Rokestan. The military hardware from turkey will give Bangladesh Armed Forces NATO Standard weapons.
Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed visit in Turkey
In Istanbul, the Chief of Army Staff met with Turkish Deputy Minister of National Defense Muhsin Dere and Minister of Defense for Turkish Defense Industries Ismail Demer. During the meeting, both sides pledged all kinds of cooperation and assistance from Turkey to Bangladesh, including military equipment. Later, the Chief of Army Staff visited various stalls of the International Defense Fair 2021 and was informed about the various military equipment displayed there.
During his stay in Ankara, the Chief of Army Staff met with the Turkish Chief of Land Forces, General Musa Avsever, and the Chief of General Staff, General Yaşar Güler. During the meeting, the Chief of Army Staff discussed various issues of mutual interest between Turkey and the Bangladesh Army. The talks focused on possible areas of defense cooperation between the two countries, training exchanges, etc.
In addition to meeting with important military personnel of the Turkish Army, General Shafiuddin Ahmed visited the Operations Control Room of the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), Army Aviation Headquarters and Turkey’s Aerospace Industries.
On the last day of the visit, the Army Chief visited the National Defense University (NDU) in Turkey and was briefed on the NDU’s activities and other related issues. Mr. Irhan Afionju, Rector of NDU, gave a reception there. Before returning to Dhaka, Lieutenant General Kemal Yeni, Commander of the 1st Army of Turkey, also met the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh
He will also exchange views with the Bangladesh High Commission in Turkey.
In a meeting with both of them, the Chief of Army Staff said that there are long-standing strategic friendships and cultural ties between the armies of Turkey and Bangladesh as well as the two countries. He expressed hope that the relationship would be further strengthened after his visit. General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed also said that his official visit to Turkey on the occasion of his visit to the International Defense Fair-2021 would open new doors of cooperation between the military forces of the two countries, especially the armies of the two countries. He thanked both the Minister of Turkish Defense Industries and the Deputy Minister of National Defense for inviting him and his delegation to the defense fair.
Turkey’s Deputy Minister of National Defense Muhsin Dere pledged all cooperation and assistance to Bangladesh in the field of military equipment as well as training of army personnel, exchange of technology, etc.
Ismail Demir, head of Turkish Defense Industries, assured that he would look into all the ongoing issues with Bangladesh on behalf of Turkey and provide necessary assistance so that future defense cooperation between the two countries would be more friendly and beneficial.
Bangladesh’s head of maritime staff led a delegation to Turkey in late May days before retirement. Bangladesh and Turkey are attempting to upgrade ties and exchange relations to $2 billion from the current degree of around $1 billion, as indicated by the Bangladesh Bangladesh foreign ministry.
