The Diamond Program Kayseri Sector Workshop, which was implemented within the scope of the National Competency Initiative Project, was hosted by Melikgazi Municipality.

The Diamond Program Kayseri Sector Workshop was attended by Kayseri Deputy Murat Cahid Cıngı, Republic of Turkey. Vice President of the Presidency of Defense Industries Prof. Dr. Hakan Karataş, President of the Defense Industries Academy Prof. Dr. Cenk Aktaş and their accompanying delegation, Air Pilot Brigadier General Garrison Commander Hasan Volkan Güleryüz, Ministry of National Defense 2nd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate Commander Brigadier General Volkan Efsun, Erciyes University Faculty of Aviation and Astronautics Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Taştan, MEB Deputy General Manager Mehmet Bal, Provincial Director of National Education Coşkun Esen, representatives from the Kayseri Chamber of Industry, Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, Kayseri Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), Mimarsinan Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), and sector companies attended the event.

“A new era begins in Kayseri for aviation.”

Melikgazi Municipality Mehmet Altun expressed their pride in Aviation and Space Technologies Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which is among only 13 schools in Türkiye included in the "Diamond Program." Melikgazi Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Palancıoğlu said, “We were striving to establish an Aviation and Space Sciences High School, and thankfully, we were successful in this endeavor, and last Monday, we began English preparatory classes with our first students. We have a total of 50 students here. With the support of Mehmet Altun, we used our municipality's budget to create a wonderful school. From now on, with the support of the Presidency of Defense Industries and the Ministry of National Education within the scope of the Diamond Program, a new era in aviation is beginning in Kayseri. Of course, the establishment of TOMTAŞ and the various aviation-related projects are extremely important, but I believe the Aviation and Space Sciences High School is extremely important in terms of education, job creation in the sector, and the future of Turkey. We currently have students from different provinces. Some have dropped out of the Science High School and come here. It's a matter of pride for us. The fact that aviation history began here, the TOMTAŞ factory was established, and now we have the aviation-related Fasbat facilities. The retrofitting of A400M aircraft at our Air Supply and Maintenance Center base is extremely important for Kayseri and the region. This school will serve not only Kayseri but all of Turkey. Students from nearby provinces, particularly Kahramanmaraş, Ankara, Kayseri, and other provinces, will be trained at our school. They are all truly brilliant young people. We are also building a dormitory right next to our school quickly. It looks like this school will be in high demand from across Turkey. I would especially like to thank Professor Hakan, Professor Cenk, and the Ministry of National Education. Despite being a vocational high school with the highest scores among 13 schools, we are one of the top three schools in terms of student enrollment. We've made a good start. This year will be an English preparatory class, and I will, God willing, be taking classes myself. Next week, we are taking our students to TEKNOFEST in Istanbul. A week later, we will be able to touch and see TUSAŞ, our Kaan aircraft, Hürkuş, and Gökbey. We are taking our students to Ankara. Therefore, as the municipality, we are providing all the support we can to open what is perhaps the most qualified school in Kayseri. The current position of the defense industry, formed under the leadership of our President, makes us proud. I would like to thank our President, the Presidency of Defense Industries, and all the authorities. We will provide all the support we can to make the defense industry even stronger. Hopefully, in 10-15 years, the children who graduate from here will emerge as individuals like Hürkuş, Gökbey, and Kaan, who manufacture aircraft and hold important roles in Turkey's defense industry."

AK Party Kayseri Deputy Murat Cahid Cıngı said, “Vocational education is currently the main agenda item in our country. It's a fact that, unfortunately, we are experiencing a decline in vocational education in parallel with the increase in the number of universities in our country. Therefore, we are concerned about how we can overcome these obstacles, how we can bring vocational education back into our country's and our parents' agendas, and how we can raise knowledgeable, well-equipped, and visionary students who will contribute to the real sector. We are probably the country with the fastest progress in the world. This gives us all national pride, sustains social psychology, and makes us all proud. Therefore, the investments made in this sector and the training centers established to train people for the defense industry are also the apple of our eye. The aviation high school, which was built in our city under the leadership of our esteemed President, is also a very significant step in our city.” "It will address a gap; it will be a very serious investment; we are gaining a very important human capital resource. With the support of both our Defense Industry and our Ministry of National Education, we will hopefully train the scientists, R&D specialists, and engineers of the future here. And hopefully, in 10, 20, or 30 years, our country will become a major exporter, exporting a significant amount of defense industry tools, equipment, and information globally. I extend my gratitude to our President, Mustafa Palancıoğlu. He has truly undertaken a very important mission for the city. With the support of our Presidency of Defense Industries, political support, and the efforts of our Directorate of National Education in our city, this school will soon become a treasured institution in Turkey," he said.

Mehmet Bal, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of National Education, stated that the Diamond Program consists of five main themes: interaction, leadership, excellence, rationality, and sustainability, and thanked the Defense Industry, the Defense Academy, the Melikgazi Municipality, and the Provincial Directorate of National Education for their support.

Prof. Dr. Hakan Karataş stated the following:

“I extend my greetings to our President of Defense Industries, Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, who was unable to be in Kayseri due to other programs, the initiator of the ELMAS program. Our defense industry is invaluable. Especially in the last 20 years, thanks to the strong determination and will of our President, we are all proud of the progress we have made. The production volume, number of employees, and export volume we have achieved in 20 years truly make the entire country proud. Currently, approximately 3,500 companies operate in the defense industry. A total of 8,000 companies operating in both defense and civilian sectors are striving to contribute to the defense industry ecosystem. Over 3,000 employees employ over 12 billion dollars with an annual production volume of over $12 billion. Currently, there are over a hundred ongoing projects in the defense industry, totaling approximately $150 billion in project volume. 235 of our products are used in 185 countries. This is tremendous. We currently have an export volume of $7.1 billion. Our domestic and national production rate was 20% 20 years ago, but now it's 83%. Looking at these figures over the last 20 years, we're all proud. Every day you turn on your television, every day you see news of a test, a delivery, and every day a product/platform entering the inventory of our Armed Forces. We're proud of all this. Our fundamental goal, the race we must not lose, is to produce high technology. Our concern today might be space, tomorrow it might be physics, the next day it might be cybersecurity, or the day after that it might be artificial intelligence. Therefore, our fundamental motivation is to ensure that the Turkish Defense Industry, or Turkey itself, remains as committed to high technology as possible. As the number of people working in the defense industry, producing high technology, increases, this represents a significant talent pool for us. In this context, you know we have dreams of building the future and paving the way for the defense industry. And thank God, we have tremendous self-confidence in this regard. Turkish engineers and technicians can now do anything. We have no problem doing it. I would like to express my special gratitude to our Melikgazi Mayor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Palancıoğlu. In fact, he is one of the people who initiated this and was in his kitchen. We have embarked on a wonderful journey. Our Mayor and Minister, the Ministry team, and the Academy team are working in harmony. We are currently implementing this in 13 schools across 12 provinces. While working with our Ministry of National Education, we decided to start from the provinces with the largest and strongest defense industry ecosystems when selecting these 13 schools. I hope this will be a beneficial project for the future of our country, our youth, and also for the youth of our future.”

Defense Industry Academy President Prof. Dr. Cenk Aktaş said, "We now have a completely changed structure; the paradigm is shifting. Because we are no longer a country that only conducts R&D and design, and our products are now being used. More importantly, these aren't just prototypes; we also have very large sales to other countries. So, our export figures have begun to increase. These aren't just a few products; as you know, a very large number of Kaan agreements have been signed with Indonesia, and these will continue to increase. Of course, as these numbers increase, we anticipate that our need for technicians will also increase. When we look at it, we are currently transitioning from an engineering-intensive field to a technician-intensive field."