Türkiye increased allocations for weapons, ammunition and other defense equipment purchases by 229% in its 2027 budget, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Friday.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the finalization of the central government budget proposal at the presidential complex in Ankara, Yilmaz outlined spending priorities spanning defense, education, health and infrastructure.

“Allocations for purchases of weapons, ammunition, weapons systems and other defense equipment, which constitute a significant portion of defense spending in the National Defense Ministry's budget, have been increased by 229%,” he said.

Including other defense expenditures, the proposed budget earmarks 2.206 trillion Turkish liras ($44.5 billion) for defense and a separate $25.2 billion for internal security.

The 229% increase applies specifically to the procurement allocations identified by Yilmaz, rather than total defense spending.

Yilmaz said Türkiye had reduced its defense industry's dependence on foreign suppliers, describing developments over the past quarter-century as a revolution.

Current global conditions demonstrated the importance of the country's earlier decision to strengthen its domestic defense industry, he added.

Beyond defense, the government proposes allocating $57.5 billion to investment, equivalent to 10.4% of the 2027 budget.

Yilmaz said investment would continue across irrigation, railways, maritime transport, oil and natural gas exploration, and mining.

Education, including higher education, would receive $75.6 billion, retaining the largest share of central government spending at 13.7%. The proposal also provides $17.5 billion to address earthquake damage and strengthen resilience against disasters.

Yilmaz said the budget proposal had been submitted to parliament within the constitutional deadline. He will provide further details during a presentation to parliament's Planning and Budget Committee next week.