Britain seeks to boost defense cooperation with Turkey

Britain, the world's second-largest defense exporter but one with little presence in Turkey, has launched a major effort for joint production and exports to third countries of defense equipment with Ankara, a senior British industry official said yesterday. Britain's global defense exports in 2009 surpassed 7 billion pounds – a nearly 20 percent share of the world market. But its activities in Turkey, with a flourishing defense industry, in the last 15 years were limited to the production of electronic warfare systems for Turkish F-16 fighter planes by the American arm of BAE Systems, the largest defense company in Britain and Europe and the second-largest in the world. The government of British Prime Minister David Cameron, in power since last year, unofficially has designated Turkey, together with Brazil and India, as top potential strategic partners in the defense industry.