In the great halls of the Istanbul Expo Centre—where iron, invention, and intention quietly converged—the 17th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF 2025) unfolded as more than a global defence exhibition; it became a stage where presence itself was diplomacy. Beneath banners of steel and systems that map the future of security, Sri Lanka walked a measured path.
Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd), accepted Türkiye’s formal invitation with the quiet authority of experience, stepping into the corridors not as a guest of spectacle, but as a statesman of subtle purpose. Hosted by Deputy Minister Mr. Bilal Durdali, the visit marked a deliberate and meaningful act of engagement—low in volume, high in resonance.
Across closed doors and quiet conference tables, the Sri Lankan delegation held thoughtful exchanges with Türkiye’s senior defence hierarchy—from General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu of the Land Forces, to Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu of the Navy, and Air General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu. These were not transactions, but conversations—layered with mutual curiosity and calm foresight.
IDEF’s 17th chapter, with its dazzling displays of firepower and form, became a backdrop to something far more nuanced: a tactful thread of understanding, woven between two nations whose futures may now move more closely in step. And as the world looked to the spectacle, it was in these quiet iron corridors that a deeper accord began to stir.
