Turkey Hikes 2027 Defense Procurement Budget by 229%

Turkey’s 2027 Central Government Budget Bill, submitted to the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) on October 16, sets aside a sharply larger sum for weapons procurement. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said allocations within the National Defense Ministry’s budget for purchasing weapons, ammunition, weapon systems and other military equipment were raised by 229 percent compared with the prior year.

According to the bill, combined defense and internal security spending reaches 3.454 trillion lira, split between 2.206 trillion lira for defense and 1.248 trillion lira for internal security. Total budget expenditures are projected at 27.276 trillion lira against revenues of 23.408 trillion lira, leaving a deficit of roughly 3.868 trillion lira.

Yılmaz framed the increase as part of a push to cut Turkey’s reliance on foreign suppliers for defense equipment. The bill does not break down how much of the new allocation will go toward domestic systems versus imports; that detail is expected to surface during parliamentary committee hearings.

The budget bill was filed by the Presidency’s Strategy and Budget Office and referred to the Plan and Budget Committee. Under a draft schedule, Yılmaz is due to present it to the committee on October 21, with a general debate starting October 27 and ministry-by-ministry review wrapping up by November 27.

The jump follows an October 8 statement by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, who had already flagged the 229 percent rise and tied it to the “ongoing conflict environment” in Turkey’s neighborhood. Yılmaz’s October 16 remarks, delivered alongside the formal budget submission, confirmed that figure through an official channel.

The procurement increase lines up with Turkey’s recent pattern of large domestic contracts through companies such as ASELSAN, ROKETSAN and TUSAŞ, coordinated by the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB). A bigger budget pool in 2027 is expected to support both serial production of existing systems and continued export pushes.

Interest payments remain the single largest budget line, at roughly 3.975 trillion lira, with the combined defense-and-security block trailing as the second-largest. For now, the 229 percent figure is a proposal rather than law: the Plan and Budget Committee and then the full Assembly must approve it before year-end, and the committee process could still adjust the final numbers.

Separately, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at another event that Turkey exported more than $10 billion worth of defense and aerospace products to over 180 countries last year — a figure cited alongside, but not directly tied to, the new budget proposal.

For Turkish defense contractors, a confirmed 229 percent rise in procurement allocations would mark one of the sharpest single-year increases in recent memory, outpacing the growth rate seen in the 2026 budget cycle. Analysts tracking the sector say the final, committee-approved figures due by late November will be the clearer signal of how much new contract volume companies can expect in 2027.

Sources

• T.C. Presidency Strategy and Budget Office, “2027 Central Government Budget Bill and Annexed Schedules,” October 16, 2026, sbb.gov.tr — used to confirm the bill’s official submission date and scope.
• Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz’s official statement on the 2027 budget bill, October 16, 2026 — used to confirm the 229% figure and the defense/security total.