Business | Hard landing

Life is tough for Turkish businesses

But the pandemic may bring opportunity as well as woes

Jun 13th 2020|ISTANBUL

KALE GROUP, an aerospace and construction conglomerate, had been making and assembling engine parts for America’s F-35 stealth fighter jet since 2005. But when Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, purchased a missile-defence system from Russia last year, the American government booted its NATO ally from the F-35 programme. Turkey’s air force has ordered 100 of the planes but has taken delivery of none. Turkish firms lost contracts worth an estimated $9bn. Kale was among those most affected. And then came covid-19.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Hard landing”