Türkiye aims to enhance domestic missile range: Erdogan

Türkiye's president has said the country has not only survived the ongoing crises across the globe but is also moving forward as it aims to increase the range of its domestic missile to 1,000 kilometres from existing 565 kilometres.

During a visit to the southwestern Mugla province on Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said since he took office in the early 2000s, domestic defence industry production of the nation's arsenal rose from 20 percent to 80 percent.

"National matters are above politics and should remain so. If we have achieved gains in the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Black seas, we must protect this together, without exception," he said.

Emphasising that Türkiye now produces its own unmanned drones and combat drones, Erdogan underlined the aerial combat vehicle Bayraktar Kizilelma "will carry the bomb carried by the F-16 after it starts mass production. What do the Greeks say now? They say, 'What are those Crazy Turks up to?'"

READ MORE: Can Türkiye's unmanned Kizilelma outmanoeuvre F-35s and Su-57s?

In December, Turkish defence firm Baykar held the maiden flight of the Bayraktar Kizilelma, or Red Apple.

Featuring a low-radar signature thanks to its design, the Kizilelma will be able to perform the most challenging missions. 

It will also be capable of flying with a payload of up to 1,500 kilogrammes, equipped with Turkish-made munitions, and a high situational awareness with the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, also developed domestically.

Erdogan said the testing of domestic missiles is continuing, and added that such tests are "scaring" Greece..

"Tests are being carried out from Izmir [western province], and a missile that might be launched from there begins to scare them," he said.

"I say, 'O Greek, we have no business with you as long as you behave yourself. Just behave yourself'."

Erdogan stressed that Türkiye's defence industry is growing stronger and that terrorist groups are being "crushed."