Samsun Yurt Savunma, a strong representative of the Turkish defence industry in the international arena, was selected as the “Turkish Company of the Year” at the I AmChamPion Awards with its CANiK USA investment in the United States of America.
AmCham Türkiye (American Chamber of Commerce in Turkey), which represents nearly 150 US-based companies with an investment of more than 60 billion dollars in the Turkish economy, rewarded the companies that contribute to Turkish-American bilateral trade and investment.
AmCham Türkiye, one of the important focal representatives of the business world in Turkish-American economic relations, announced the most successful examples of economic cooperation with the “I AmChamPion Awards”, which has become a tradition and was held for the 7th time this year.
At the ceremony bringing together companies that contribute to Türkiye-US trade and investment relations, more than 300 representatives from the public sector, diplomacy and business world attended, including CBRT President Fatih Karahan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Levent Gümrükçü, US Consul General in Istanbul Michael Lally.
Within the scope of the I AmChamPion Awards, companies were awarded in 5 different categories by the jury: “Turkish Investment in the USA”, “Regional Headquarters”, “Sustainable Innovation”, “Contribution to Talent Development”, and “Turkish Company of the Year”. The award for businesspeople who contribute to Türkiye-US economic relations (Honorary Award) was also presented as a separate category.
The winners were determined by the AmCham Awards jury consisting of Kale Group Chairperson and CEO and also AmCham Awards Jury President Zeynep Bodur Okyay, President of the Investment and Finance Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Burak Dağlıoğlu, Member of the Board of Directors of Eczacıbaşı Holding Esra Eczacıbaşı, Anadolu Holding Head of Corporate Relations Atilla Yerlikaya, Koç Holding Tourism, Food and Retail Group President Özgür Burak Akkol, Sabancı Holding Materials Technologies Group President Burak Orhun, US Embassy Commercial Counsellor Frank Joseph, Fulbright Türkiye Secretary General Prof. Dr. Ersel Aydınlı, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Nasıl Bir Ekonomi Newspaper Hakan Güldağ, and Founder of FarkLabs Ahu Büyükkuşoğlu Serter.
CANiK USA was deemed worthy of the “Turkish Company of the Year” award at the ceremony. While companies of US origin or joint ventures that invested and provided employment in Türkiye received awards in other categories, CANiK USA became the only company that invested in the USA and received an award from Türkiye.
The award of CANiK USA was received by Nafia Didem Aral, Member of the Board of Directors of Samsun Yurt Savunma.
In her speech at the award ceremony, Didem Aral thanked the jury members and AmCham Türkiye.
Sharing information about CANiK USA investments and its future, Aral stated that the total investment to be made in CANiK USA within the next 2 years would exceed one hundred million dollars. She also stated that from the beginning of 2026, the current workforce of 100 people would be increased to 135 people, and the factory would operate with three-shift production. Aral said:
“Our facility in South Florida will continue production not only as a pistol factory but also as an industrial and technology hub with a technological infrastructure ready for heavy machine gun and medium-calibre production. CANiK USA was established as a fully local production technology hub in West Palm Beach, South Florida, with an equal partnership of Samsun Yurt Savunma and Century Arms, with an investment of 60 million dollars, the construction phase of which took 3 years and was completed in 2024. Our facility, which started production in December 2024, first launched our METE MC9 Prime model, which we produce only in the USA, in January. For us, this is not just a production, but an investment project that supports defence industry cooperation between the two countries.”
“Our facility in the USA is a strong technology and industrial hub that is not limited to a pistol capacity of 100,000 units in 2026, but also houses advanced production infrastructure for medium-calibre systems.”
Aral also made the following evaluations regarding the award:
“The fact that our investment in the United States as CANiK USA has been deemed worthy of the ‘Turkish Company of the Year’ award by AmCham Türkiye and esteemed jury members has once again confirmed the power and determination of the Turkish defence industry in the international arena.
This meaningful award is a great source of pride not only for our company but also for all Turkish companies that expand abroad and contribute to the global economy. We will continue to work with our vision of strengthening Türkiye-US bilateral trade and investment relations.
I would like to thank Mr. Fatih Durmaz, who presented our award here, and especially Turkish Airlines, as well as the esteemed jury members who deemed CANiK USA worthy of this award, and everyone who contributed to the success story of the Turkish defence industry.”
At the ceremony, the US Investment Award was presented to Johnson Controls, the Regional Headquarters Award to Medtronic, the Sustainable Innovation Award to PepsiCo, and the Contribution to Talent Development Award to Cargill.
The award for businessperson contributing to Türkiye-US economic relations (Honorary Award) was presented to Zeynep Bodur Okyay, Chairperson and CEO of Kale Group.
