Turkey wants to strengthen defense cooperation with the Kingdom, President Abdullah Gul said. Speaking in a recent interview with the chief editors of Okaz, Al-Hayat and Al-Madinah, Gul said: “The quality of our products and defense industries is according to the standards of NATO.” Turkey, he said, has defense exports to NATO. As for cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Gul cited FNS Company which manufactures armored vehicles in Al-Kharj (near Riyadh). “They are the same kind of armored military vehicles that are exported to several other countries. We have huge potential in this field.” He said trust is the main factor in establishing such defense cooperation for mutual benefit. “Cooperation in this field requires harmony in policies. “You may not get what you need at critical times if there is no trust in good relations between countries.” The president also felt that at the Kuwait summit last month, King Abdullah had done the right thing when he sent out a warning to Israel in reference to the Arab peace initiative that “no plan can remain on the table forever.” Besides, the Kingdom and Turkey share the view that the Palestinian factions must unite and prevent division in their ranks, Gul said. He noted that the Kingdom and Turkey have parallel views on international, regional and Middle East issues. He said the two countries understand thoroughly the multifaceted threats posed by terrorism and support every effort to eliminate the scourge. He said the Arab peace initiative has made it clear to the world that the Arab countries would guarantee Israel's security if the conditions tabled were met.
