Ministry of National Defense Weekly Press Briefing Meeting: Eurofighter Training, Mecca Defense Alliance and the Second Bridge on the Euphrates River Completed

Aydın Hasan - The weekly press briefing meeting of the Ministry of National Defense was held yesterday at BAYKAR's Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul. The Ministry of National Defense made the following statements in response to questions regarding the current issues:

EUROFIGHTER PILOT TRAINING: Within the scope of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft procurement signed with the UK Government in order to meet the operational needs of our Air Forces Command, the training of our pilots started in August. It is planned that our pilots, who have completed their terminology training, will start their flight training on September 7, 2026.

Following the 8-month flight training, our pilots will also receive 3-month Instructor Pilot Training. Our pilots will continue to be sent to these trainings periodically.

MECCA DEFENSE ALLIANCE: Within the scope of the Mecca Defense Alliance, the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs and the Chiefs of General Staff of Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia met in Istanbul on 31 August 2026. At the meeting, steps to be taken to provide a more institutional structure to the cooperation within the scope of the alliance were discussed; It was decided to establish a Secretariat under the chairmanship of a Secretary General in Saudi Arabia to run the Secretariat of the alliance.

MISSED SHIP IN SOMALIA: As a result of the operation carried out by the Somali authorities, the pirates were enabled to abandon the ship and the ship in question was rescued.

Second bridge to Euphrates

Ministry of National Defense (MSB) Spokesperson Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk held the weekly press briefing yesterday at BAYKAR's Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul. Stating that the Turkish Armed Forces continues its uninterrupted and determined fight against all kinds of threats and dangers to the security of the country, Aktürk said, "In the past week, 3 more PKK terrorists surrendered."

Aktürk said the following about the activities of the Turkish Armed Forces in Syria: "In order to establish stability in Syria and contribute to the normalization of the daily life of the Syrian people, the second floating bridge project carried out on the Euphrates River in cooperation with the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian Armed Forces was completed on August 30. The bridge, which was built in place of the bridge that was previously destroyed due to floods and will contribute to the facilitation of transportation between the two sides of the Euphrates River, is a concrete indicator of the cooperation and solidarity between the armed forces of the two countries."

SDF denial from the Ministry of National Defense