The new production line of the Gazi Flare Factory, which consists of domestic and national machines that will completely eliminate foreign dependency, was opened by the Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK).

Within the scope of coronavirus measures, Minister of National Defense Akar, Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Güler, Commander of Land Forces General Ümit Dündar, Commander of Naval Forces Admiral Adnan Özbal and Commander of Air Forces General Hasan Küçükakyüz attended the opening via video conference.

Minister of National Defense Akar received information from MKEK General Manager Yasin Akdere about the new cartridge line and the works.

Akar stated that there have been important developments and studies in the fields of industry and technology in Turkey, but that they do not find any of them sufficient, and said, “We will continue our work at an increasing speed and tempo, and I believe that we will take it to much more advanced levels.”

Emphasizing that the newly opened Gazi Firecracker Factory has an extremely important position in order to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces, Minister of National Defence Akar said, “It is of great meaning and importance to bring services and production to this special and meaningful factory with domestic and national machines, not foreign machines. On top of this, the 40% increase in production with domestic and national machines compared to foreign origin machines is a source of pride for us.”

Akar also stated that with the new production line, all local and foreign demands will be met faster.

Stating that this is an important step in terms of both finance and security, Akar said, “When we were dependent on looms, we faced situations such as not being able to buy the materials we paid for. If we continue at this pace, we will hopefully be able to make the looms of all our production materials on our own, and we will develop this further.”

Emphasizing that the work to increase the production of protective health equipment in the factories affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense continues, Akar stated that they have produced approximately 30 million masks, more than 500 thousand overalls and 140 tons of disinfectants to date.

Reminding that the prototype of the mechanical respirator called “Sahra” was produced by MKEK, Minister of National Defense Akar said, “The certification process has reached a certain stage. In a very short time, we will be in a position to meet the needs of both our country, our Armed Forces and friendly and allied countries by producing 500 devices per week.”

Thanks to the newly established line, the production capacity is planned to be increased three-fold.

Thanks to the new line, which will produce 7.62 mm x 39 Kalashnikov cartridges, 7.62 mm x 51 NATO cartridges, 7.62 and 5.56 mm Shrink Wrapped Maneuver cartridges, domestic and foreign demand will be met more easily and higher quality production will be realized.