The economic role of Turkey's defense industry R&D expenditures: An assessment from a global perspective

This thesis aims to analyze R&D investments in Turkey's defense industry sector and their role within the national economic structure through international comparisons. It examines the historical development of Turkey's defense R&D expenditures, their share in the defense budget, technological production capacity, and export performance, supported by a comparative evaluation with OECD countries based on 2021 data. Within the scope of the research, content analysis—a qualitative method—has been employed. The SWOT framework has been used to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats from a strategic perspective. The findings indicate that Turkey prioritizes defense R&D strategically, allocates resources accordingly, and has made progress in enhancing its technological capacity. However, continued dependence on foreign sources for critical technologies, limited resources, institutional coordination issues, and macroeconomic vulnerabilities have been identified as fundamental structural problems affecting the sustainability of the sector. The study concludes that defense industry policies should not rely solely on budgetary increases, but also be grounded in innovation, institutional coordination, international cooperation, and strategies for developing qualified human capital. To ensure the sustainability of current achievements, it is recommended to develop flexible financing models, technology transfer policies, and risk management approaches. This thesis provides a multidimensional contribution to the defense economics literature and is significant in offering applicable strategic recommendations for policymakers. Keywords: Defense Industry, R&D Expenditures, Defense Expenditures, SWOT Analysis