Turkey's first aviation industry attempt: TOMTAŞ

Establishing a permanent air warfare industry in Turkey became one of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's primary goals following the proclamation of the Republic. Initiatives launched without delay materialized with the establishment of TOMTAŞ (Turkish Aircraft and Motor Joint Stock Company) in 1925, and the first fruits were reaped with the factory that began operations in 1926.

The Turks had suffered from the inability to produce their own aircraft during both the First World War and the War of Independence. During the First World War, the Germans had provided aircraft support to the Ottoman army, albeit in small numbers. When the War of Independence began, the Turkish army had no aircraft at all, and the Greeks' air superiority could not be balanced until 1922. The fact that the Turks could not prevent Greek air operations gave the Greeks an advantage, especially in terms of intelligence (reconnaissance), and left the Turks helpless in many respects. Atatürk was determined to do what was necessary to ensure that the same helplessness would not be experienced again.

Although Atatürk had dreamed of Turkey producing its own aircraft from the very beginning, the path forward would start with licenses purchased from abroad and an assembly industry due to both the inadequacy of the industrial infrastructure and the very small number of experts available. In 1925, a team including Vecihi Hürkuş visited aircraft factories in Europe for the purpose of technology imports and signed an agreement with the German Junkers firm, which would produce the legendary Stuka dive bombers during the years of World War II.

This initiative was an opportunity not only for the Turks but also for the Germans. Because of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Germans could not produce warplanes in their own country and were looking for a country where they could establish a factory (and train their fighter pilots). A factory to be established in Turkey gave the Germans the opportunity to circumvent the unfair impositions of the Treaty of Versailles (though Turkey was not the first in this regard; Junkers had established a factory in Russia in 1924).

The advantage of the agreement with the Germans for the Turks was that aircraft with the latest technology of the period would be produced (Atatürk's greatest concern was obtaining a patent for an obsolete aircraft type), while the disadvantage was that the designs were too new and their combat performance was uncertain. The aircraft produced by the Germans were civilian aircraft under the Treaty of Versailles. Although the Germans were producing their aircraft in a way that could be armed, these aircraft had not been subjected to combat tests. Germany's advantage was that these highly anticipated tests would be conducted in Turkey (similar tests were also started in Russia in 1926).

Vecihi Hürkuş tested all the civilian versions of the aircraft that were decided to be produced in Turkey and purchased from Germany. He also rushed from Germany to Turkey to test the armed version (the aircraft was much heavier than the unarmed version) of the Junkers Ju A-35, which was planned to be produced (but was not). In a war game held in Eskişehir, the Junkers Ju A-35 piloted by Vecihi Bey faced the French Nieuport-Delage NiD 29 fighter and outperformed the Nieuport. In his memoirs, Vecihi Bey noted that if this encounter had been a real conflict, the Nieuport would have definitely been shot down.

The other aircraft planned to be produced (and which was produced), the Junkers Ju A-20, was tested on the battlefield itself. Armed Ju A-20s served as close air support aircraft in the rebellions that broke out in the east in 1926 and successfully proved their worth. These experiences must undoubtedly have been observed by the Germans as well.

An armed Ju A-20 in the service of the Turkish Army.

The aircraft factory, which was planned to be established in 1925, began operations in Kayseri in 1926. Fifty-one percent of the shares of the Turkish Aircraft and Motor Joint Stock Company belonged to the Ministry of National Defense, and forty-nine percent belonged to Junkers. In addition to the manufacturing center in Kayseri, a maintenance/repair center was established in Eskişehir. When the factory in Kayseri first opened, 120 of the personnel were German and 50 were Turkish. Although the initiative initially created great excitement, it entered an economic bottleneck due to poor management and the Junkers firm being on the verge of bankruptcy, and production at the factory was terminated in 1928. In its two-year adventure, TOMTAŞ produced thirty Ju A-20s and performed maintenance and repair on various aircraft belonging to Junkers.

The expected support from Germany for TOMTAŞ did not materialize either. In fact, the Germans had lost interest in Turkey the very year TOMTAŞ opened, with the commissioning of the secret air base and aviation school in Lipetsk, Russia, in 1926. There, they were not only testing their own aircraft but also training their fighter pilots. In this respect, Russia was offering the Germans a service that Turkey could never provide. Indeed, unlike Russia, which had burned its bridges, Turkey could not risk confronting the winners of the First World War by allocating an air base to the Germans.

The closed factory was reopened in 1931 under the name Kayseri Aircraft Factory and produced 212 aircraft with patents obtained from various countries until its closure in 1942.