The first test flight of the Kaan aircraft was successfully conducted. The joint efforts of thousands of Turkish engineers and technicians have finally borne fruit. What's strange is the effort of certain circles to belittle and discredit this success. This is reminiscent of a group known in the Ottoman era as the "Janissary rejectionists". Statements have emerged placing the sourcing of Kaan's engines from abroad at the center of their opposition. If the engines are coming from outside, how accurate could it be to promote Kaan as a national aircraft?

In the 1970s, Erbakan Hoca raised the flag of the industrial leap, which was the most sensitive issue for our nation, in his propaganda, indicating the determination for modernization. Truth be told, that flag had long been lying in the dust. The founding modernists had failed to achieve industrialization, the most vital issue of modernization, and had tried to cover up this gap by turning the matter into a cultural war. The sole reason for the failure of industrialization was our lack of readiness, culturally and mentally. Industrialization was fundamentally an engineering issue, but it required a substantial revolution in mindset to succeed. This could have been achieved through a cultural mobilization. The expulsion of religion, tradition, and superstitions from our mindset was an urgent matter. In short, the modernists from Mekteb-i Mülkiye and Mekteb-i Harbiye were throwing a task they had failed to accomplish onto a different era. The role played by these circles, known as the White Turks, in today's cultural polarization is mainly due to this neglect. What they failed to understand was the historical-cultural world of Mekteb-i Mühendishane. Essentially, the engineering world has always had a climate of thinking in terms of static-dynamic balance. That is, a conservative ethos has been inherent in the minds of engineers as a natural inclination. For an engineer to be a pure, radical revolutionary is somewhat odd. This condition will likely reduce him, in the eyes of many of his peers, to a fanatic who has become captivated by dynamic calculations and overlooked static ones; more importantly, someone who has failed to do justice to the education he received. In short, the issue was this: the modernists aligned with Mülkiye and Harbiye were deeply at odds with the Mühendishane front of modernization. Indeed, figures like Süleyman Demirel, Necmeddin Erbakan, and Turgut Özal, who were graduates of ITU, exerted great effort to pull modernization away from the bureaucratic axis and place it within the framework of engineering characterized by conservatism in tradition and sect. (However, the revolutionary engineers of ODTÜ only managed to hold onto the professional chamber; over time, they became increasingly sectarian and did not hesitate to form a categorical rejectionist bloc against those from ITU.)

Süleyman Demirel made significant contributions to infrastructure services crucial for industrialization. But because a part of his mind was still closely linked to bureaucracy, he remained rather timid. Erbakan Hoca, at this very point, initiated a two-dimensional movement. He began a cultural revanchism campaign and unfurled the banner of heavy industry, which was considered the most radical step in industrialization. Erbakan Hoca accused his colleague and faculty mate Demirel of establishing assembly industries. The real task was to build heavy industry and achieve motor production.

In fact, Erbakan's tragedy, as it was for many engineers, was seeing the issue solely as a technological one. However, the issue was primarily economic. He believed that prosperity could be achieved through industrialization alone. However, starting from the 1970s, capitalism's internal contradictions began to produce damage to industrial structures, shaking the institutions of welfare societies. Technological advancements, especially the chip revolution, began to play a role in this process. Technological progress accelerated the destruction caused by the internal contradictions of industrial structures. As a result, old models based on industry were eroding, and humanity was rapidly moving towards a new techno-economic model. Turgut Özal, who was also an engineer, was aware of these developments to some extent. Erbakan entered the Turkish political scene with a predatory attitude that would render the Erbakan school archaic. Over time, the renaming of the Ministry of Industry to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and then to the Ministry of Industry and Technology should be considered significant.

Türkiye's issue is not the inability to industrialize. In fact, there are many reasons why not being able to industrialize, especially considering the human costs paid for these developments, should be seen as a historical opportunity. Industry swept over humanity like a hurricane. China was the latest to be struck by this hurricane. The news coming from China these days is not very encouraging. Yes, they are strengthening their technological accumulations. But along with all the burdens of industrialization. But India, which has not been able to industrialize, is much luckier in this regard. With new initiatives in line with technological developments, I think it will be in much different places in the next ten years.

Turkish engineers worked tirelessly day and night to bring Kaan to life. The most striking success in the aircraft was that all the most advanced technological components, especially the software, were national. For now, the fact that the engines are coming from abroad is not a problem. These capable generations will also overcome this in a few years. As we said, the issue is much different and deeper...