SAHA Istanbul has marked its 10th anniversary. Founded in 2015 in the Northern Marmara Region—which accounts for 54% of Türkiye’s industrial output—our cluster set out with a mission to increase domestic content. As of this month, we have reached 1,300 members. Our membership is composed of companies manufacturing across 56 sectors, 83% of which are SMEs, along with 30 universities. In this framework, we foster University–Industry collaboration and integrate the platforms, systems, and subcomponents required by our state rapidly and by leveraging our domestic production strength.
Today, SAHA Istanbul has become the largest industrial cluster in Türkiye and Europe. Behind the success achieved in as little as ten years lie immense effort, conviction, and resolve. We continue on our path with confidence in the productive power and patriotism of our industrialists.
SAHA Istanbul is not growing by numbers alone. We have built—and continue to build—strong bridges among all stakeholders that must walk this path together: government institutions, industrialists, and universities.
Year by year, we are witnessing the tangible outcomes of our national localization vision. We bring together the right stakeholders under sound strategies to ensure the success of the National Technology Initiative. We support the establishment of R&D centers and Technopark projects. We realize university–industry collaboration in a genuine, operational sense. Our past experiences in the defence industry have demonstrated how vital a nationally owned and original production model is.
We regard the defence industry’s export growth this year as the most significant success of this vision. By the end of 2024, our sector achieved exports of platforms, systems, subsystems, and materials worth $7.1 billion to 180 countries. In the first quarter of 2025, we recorded a historic 147% year-on-year increase, rising from $358 million to $884 million. Ensuring that this success remains effective and sustainable is of critical importance. The sector’s primary objective should be to increase its global market share and rank among the world’s top 10 defence exporters. If the current trend in export volume continues sustainably, we can achieve this goal within the next five years.
The value added per kilogram generated by high-technology exports is among the priorities of an independent and prosperous Türkiye.
We believe it is essential to continue the localization drive—particularly in the defence and aerospace domains, which are critical to our national security—as a nationwide mobilization.
As SAHA Istanbul, we are rapidly advancing efforts to indigenously develop, produce, and export main platforms, subsystems, and critical components with our 1,300 companies. Within our technical committees, we are conducting six UR-GE (International Competitiveness Development) Projects. To date, we have supported 76 companies by generating international demand for their products and enhancing their competitiveness. With our SAHA 2026 exhibition—where more than 250 foreign companies participated in 2024 and which we will hold on May 5–9, 2026—we will continue to bring domestic manufacturers together with foreign firms and with military and civilian procurement delegations.
In this period, SAHA Istanbul has also extended its work in the defence and aerospace industries into the space domain to develop the technologies Türkiye needs under the National Space Program. To that end, we established the National Space Industry Committee (SAHA MUEK) in 2022. Bringing together the Turkish Space Agency (TUA), TÜBİTAK UZAY, and firms active in the space industry, this structure aims to carry the success achieved in defence into the space sector. In line with this goal, SAHA MUEK became a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in 2022, facilitating the integration of Turkish companies into the global space ecosystem.
Within this scope, the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026)—one of the world’s most prestigious events, organized by the International Astronautical Federation since 1949 and uniting all stakeholders of the global space ecosystem—will be held on October 5–9, 2026, in Antalya, under the auspices of our Ministry of Industry and Technology and co-hosted by the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and SAHA Istanbul. During the Congress, space professionals from around the world will meet Türkiye’s space ecosystem, creating opportunities to strengthen cooperation and share expertise.
In addition, we continue our efforts to strengthen the sector’s human capital. In this regard, SAHA Academy provides professional training tailored to develop qualified talent for the defence, aerospace, and space industries, delivering robust solutions to sector needs. To date, we have reached 2,218 professionals from 872 companies through 439 distinct training titles, aiming to meet sectoral demands and reach international standards in line with the National Technology Initiative and the National Competence Initiative.
Within SAHA Academy, our SAHA MBA Executive Development Program aims to cultivate leaders for a sector that knows how to produce. Conducted in cooperation with TÜBİTAK TÜSSİDE, this is Türkiye’s most prestigious, focused, and ambitious MBA program, with senior public officials and industry leaders actively serving as instructors.
Designed to match the content, tools, and methods of the world’s leading MBA programs, the SAHA MBA Executive Development Program has provided MBA education to 430 business owners, second-generation successors, and corporate managers from 218 different companies to date.
Across 49 modules totaling 354 hours, SAHA MBA equips participants with business management simulations, mentoring practices, case analyses, and seminars with industry leaders.
Thanks to projects developed by our members, hundreds of domestically localized products have entered—and continue to enter—the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Numerous projects that will support Türkiye’s nationalization drive are also in development. As our localization rate rises to 75%, we are embedding this progress at the foundation and advancing together.
In the coming period, we will see a phase in which platforms—especially main subsystems and components—are produced with high domestic content and exhibit greater technological depth. From this perspective, we must now build a healthy, sustainable structure that will carry our current achievements even further. The responsibilities falling to SAHA Istanbul in this regard are steadily increasing.
The decisive steps we take, our investments in high technology and the defence industry, and our efforts to cultivate the human capital we need are the guarantees of our future.