Türkiye Offers Japan Drone Partnership, Fidan Says

(MENAFN) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has signaled Ankara's readiness to forge a defense-industrial partnership with Tokyo centered on drone technology, while also declaring that a breakthrough in US-Iran nuclear negotiations is within reach.

In an interview with Japanese medias, Fidan highlighted Türkiye's rise as a formidable unmanned aerial vehicle power, expressing eagerness to deepen bilateral defense ties with Japan.

"Türkiye and Japan have complementary capabilities, and we believe there is strong potential for mutually beneficial collaboration," he said.

The minister pointed specifically to combat-tested drone systems as the cornerstone of any prospective partnership.

"In aviation, particularly in unmanned aerial systems and anti-drone technologies, Türkiye has developed advanced and field-tested capabilities that could provide a strong basis for collaboration," Fidan said.

Beyond defense, Fidan identified sweeping areas of untapped bilateral potential spanning energy, digital transformation, aerospace, robotics, and resilient supply chains. On critical minerals, he stressed that Ankara's ambitions reach beyond raw extraction.

"Strategic objective is not simply extraction, but producing high-value-added intermediate and end products. In that sense, cooperation with Japanese technology and investment could create a true win-win partnership, and we are ready to work closely with Japan in this field as well," he said.

Fidan also confirmed that negotiations toward a bilateral social security agreement between the two nations had advanced, expressing optimism that a deal could be finalized soon.

Turning to the US-Iran standoff, Fidan offered a notably optimistic assessment of ongoing nuclear diplomacy.

"Both sides want to reach a positive conclusion. An agreement is closer than ever," he said.

He warned, however, that the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was inflicting mounting costs on all parties, calling its international consequences — spanning energy security, food security, and inflation — "immense," and suggesting the issue had eclipsed the nuclear file in immediate urgency.

"This has become a situation that takes priority over the nuclear files," Fidan said.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Fidan reaffirmed Türkiye's conditions for resuming normal relations with Israel, stating that trade was halted in direct response to the assault on Gaza and that a return to normalcy hinges on Israel halting the killing of Palestinians and restoring access to basic humanitarian necessities.

"When we stopped the trade, Israel must stop killing Palestinians and must stop preventing Gazans from having access to basic human needs such as food, shelter, medicine, water. If these are met, we can go back to normal life, no problem. We want to achieve a two-state solution," he said.

Responding to Israeli politicians who have cast Türkiye as a future strategic threat, Fidan was dismissive.

"In Israeli domestic politics, unfortunately, they need an enemy to make politics all the time to conduct their regional ambitions. But everybody knows Israel is not after its security, but after more land," he said.

The minister outlined a broader regional vision anchored in mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, identifying a current "golden opportunity" for cooperation among Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Gulf states — with the door potentially open to Iran and, ultimately, Israel, provided it recognizes a Palestinian state along 1967 borders.

"If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too," Fidan said.

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