Erdogan sits in the cockpit of Hürkus, the first Turkish aircfraft produced in Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated Turkey’s intention not to back down from any threat, saying those who test the country’s power will be put in their place.
Ankara / NationalTurk – ‘ Turkey is a state that ruthlessly fights against any manner of terror organization; we don’t shy away from putting rogue states and those that test Turkey’s greatness in their place,’ Tayyip Erdogan pressed during a ceremony introducing Turkey’s first self-produced national aircraft, the Hürkuş (FreeBird).
At the same time, Turkey is not a threat to any nation’s security, Turkish Prime Minister added.
‘ The Turkish Army is one of the world’s strongest armies,’ Erdoğan stated. ‘ We don’t mean to attack anyone. We build to preserve the peace, to fight off threats against our safety and our unity.’
Turkish Pm Erdogan warns all countries from the might and fury of Turkey
‘ Great states have enemies,’ Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued. ‘ Those who view these lowly attacks on our ships, [referring to Israel and to Mavi Marmara incident] planes [ referring to Syria and the downed Turkish military jet ] and our flag [ referring to Greek cyprus boy, who was shot 20 years ago trying to down the Turkish flag in Cyprus ] as [a sign of our] weakness are those who lack great states.’
Erdogan’s comments come less than a week after Syria downed a Turkish military jet in the eastern Mediterranean, trigerring a severe Turkey Syria crisis prompting Ankara to warn Assad led Damascus administration of reprisals if Syria violates any of Turkey’s frontiers.
Turkish aircraft Hürkus : Specs
The Hürkuş, a pilot trainer plane, will be used to conduct basic pilot training, instrument flying, navigation training, as well as weapons and formation training missions. The aircraft is expected to be exported as a civilian and military flight trainer aircraft.
The first Hurkus prototype will carry civilian use specifications. It is built adhering to the EASA CS 23 standards. Upcoming prototypes will have military standards. The last and most developed version of Hurkus will carry weapons in the future. The development program of the Hurkus began in March 2006 as part of the contract signed between the SSM and the TAI. The agreement covered four aircraft to be designed, built, examined, verified and certified by the TAI. The aircraft was named after Turkey’s first aviator Vecihi Hurkus. Hurkus’s daughter will participate in the ceremony, and her parents are expected to fly from U.S. in order to attend ceremony.
