ISTANBUL, August 18. /TASS/. Countries of Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia are showing interest in the products developed by Russia’s Kalashnikov Group, Section Head of the Kalashnikov Directorate for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Onokoi told TASS at the IDEF'21 international defense industry show in Istanbul on Wednesday.

"The Kalashnikov Group is participating in the IDEF 2021 exhibition as part of the exposition of Rosoboronexport [Russia’s state arms exporter]. We are glad to take advantage of this opportunity because IDEF is an international exhibition, which is attended not only by representatives of the Turkish side but also by interested persons from all over the region. That is why, here we have an opportunity to talk both with representatives of the Turkish army and potential partners on the sales on the civilian market and simultaneously talk with a large number of our partners from all over the world," Onokoi said.

"As usual, African states and countries of the Middle East and Southeast Asia show enormous interest in our products," he said.

As part of the exhibition, "quite a lot of negotiations are planned but, of course, only some of our products are presented here," he added.

"The bulk of our products, including innovations, will be presented at the Army 2021 exhibition that will run in Moscow next week. At that exhibition, we will feature a number of new products both in the small arms category and in other fields," he said.

International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul

The IDEF’21 international defense industry show opened at the Tuyap Exhibition Center in Istanbul on August 17 and will work until August 20. The defense industry show has been organized by the Turkish Defense Ministry under the auspices of the Turkish presidential administration and is running in Turkey’s largest city for the 15th time. It involves leading defense conglomerates, including some major Russian companies (Rosoboronexport, the Kalashnikov Group and the Almaz-Antey defense manufacturer integrated into the state tech corporation Rostec).

The defense show’s organizers told TASS that the Tuyap Exhibition Center would feature a broad range of products made by 1,236 defense contractors from 53 countries, including 536 Turkish firms. As many as 154 delegations from 79 countries are expected to participate in IDEF’21. A host of contracts are due to be signed at the arms show while innovations will also be presented at the defense industry exhibition.