Erdogan urges NATO allies to lift defence industry restrictions at summit

ANKARA, July 8 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that NATO allies must lift defence-industry restrictions among them, pressing the case for Ankara to break into some Europe-only initiatives.

"Restrictions among allies on defence cooperation, especially in the defence industry, must be lifted," Erdogan told the opening of a summit of NATO leaders in Ankara.

"At a time when a model of cooperation based on common sense and reason is possible, excluding allies that are not members of the (European) Union would lead to artificial divisions in Europe."

On Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump, sitting alongside Erdogan, said he would lift sanctions off Turkey and make a decision on a potential sale of F-35s to it. Both decisions are likely to face resistance from Congress.

Turkey has NATO's second-largest army and has emerged as a big developer and exporter of arms. Though Ankara has repeatedly said it wants to join European security initiatives like the SAFE funding scheme, so far it has been kept at arm's length due to political and policy differences.

Erdogan said Turkey was on track to reach NATO's 5% defence spending target by the country's 2030 goal, and that it has allocated a $24-billion additional budget for its "Steel Dome" air defence project to boost NATO's air and missile defences.

He added that allies must take more responsibility in bloc defence without hindering alliance unity. REUTERS