Turkey’s defense export reaches 1.3 billion

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

AA Photo

Turkish defense companies increased their exports to a strong $1.3 billion dollars last year, a 43 percent increase over 2011, according to new figures.

Most of the exported products were spare parts for airplanes and helicopters, turbojets and armored war vehicles.

The United States topped the list of buyers by purchasing a massive $490 million worth of defense exports from Turkey over the year. The United Arab Emirates followed the U.S. at $101 million, while Saudi Arabia came third with $99 million in purchases.

Other countries on the export list included Russia, Britain, Italy, Germany, France and Iraq, which saw the greatest rise in Turkey’s buyers abroad.

Turkey broke an all-time exports record last year with $151.86 billion, according to the unofficial figures gathered by the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM).

The country’s current account deficit dropped to $41 billion in the first 10 months of 2012 from $65 billion in the same period a year earlier.