While the Turkish military was testing Russian-made S-400 missiles at the Black Sea coast Oct. 16, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hosting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul for talks on advancing defense industry collaboration. A fresh set of accords signed at the meeting underscore how Turkey’s defense ties with Ukraine have flourished in recent years against the backdrop of its uneasy relationship with Russia that has alternated between cooperation and rivalry.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Erdogan said, “Turkey sees Ukraine as a key country for the establishment [of] stability, security, peace and prosperity in the region.” Zelensky said the agreements paved the way for “new opportunities.” Cooperation in the defense industry, he added, is “important for developing our strategic partnership.” 

The two leaders’ remarks can hardly be downplayed as diplomatic platitudes. Ukraine today stands out as Turkey’s chief partner in a series of critical military technologies such as turbo prop and diesel engines, avionics, drones, anti-ship and cruise missiles, radar and surveillance systems, space and satellite technologies, robotic systems, active and passive armor protection systems and rocket engines and guidance systems. Technological cooperation between the two sides has dramatically increased over the past two years, laying the ground for a techno-scientific alliance with far-reaching implications for the geopolitical balance of power in the Black Sea basin. 

A milestone 2018 deal on Ukraine’s purchase of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones set the stage for an expanding cooperation and had a trust-boosting effect between two countries. According to a Turkish defense industry expert who closely follows the matter, Turkish and Ukrainian companies are currently working on around 50 joint defense projects.