Belgium’s Queen Mathilde visited Turkey’s central bank in İstanbul on Tuesday as a Belgian economic mission to Turkey moved deeper into finance, defense, technology and investment cooperation, with Turkish officials saying 27 agreements had already been signed during the visit.
The queen and the Belgian delegation visited the central bank’s İstanbul Finance Center campus on the third day of the mission’s İstanbul program, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan accompanied the delegation during the visit.
The visit came as Turkish and Belgian officials used the May 10-14 economic mission to press for deeper ties in trade, finance, defense, aerospace, technology, logistics, energy and health.
Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Tuesday that 27 agreements had been signed during the mission and that more than 30 Turkish companies in defense and technology were expected to sign agreements with Belgian counterparts.
Bolat also said Belgium had shown growing interest in deeper engagement with Turkey’s defense industry.
The mission, led by Queen Mathilde, is Belgium’s first royal-level economic mission to Turkey in 14 years.
It includes Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, Defense and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken, Brussels-Capital Region Minister-President Boris Dilliès, Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele, Walloon Vice President Pierre-Yves Jeholet and hundreds of business representatives.
Belgium’s Foreign Ministry said before the visit that the mission would focus on energy transition, aerospace and defense, ports, logistics and transport, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and digital technology.
The ministry said Belgian defense companies would present their activities in Ankara, meet with Turkish companies, attend seminars and workshops and visit local companies and Belgian subsidiaries.
At the Belgium-Turkey Business Forum in İstanbul on Monday, Prévot, Francken and Bolat signed a joint declaration aimed at developing bilateral trade relations.
Bolat called for Belgian support for modernizing the Turkey-European Union customs union, saying the current framework needs to be updated to cover today’s trade and investment realities.
The customs union, which entered into force in 1996, covers industrial goods and processed agricultural products but does not include services, public procurement or most agricultural trade.
Turkey has long sought an update, arguing that the current system leaves it bound by parts of the European Union’s trade policy without giving it a formal say in decision-making.
Prévot also backed revising the customs union, telling Anadolu that it made little sense to manage economic relations in 2026 with a framework designed three decades earlier.
Prévot also gave one of the mission’s strongest political statements, calling Turkey the “guardian of the southeast flank of the European continent” and a strategic partner for Belgium and NATO.
His remarks came as European governments seek to expand defense production and reduce dependence on outside suppliers after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid questions about the future of US security commitments in Europe.
Prévot said Belgium had reached NATO’s 2 percent of gross domestic product defense spending target last year and would continue investing in defense.
Francken, who holds both the defense and foreign trade portfolios, has also promoted closer defense industry cooperation with Turkey.
During the mission, he praised Turkey’s defense industry and said Turkish drone maker Baykar has a “unique place within NATO” because of its focus on innovation, according to Turkish media citing his remarks.
Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, has expanded its defense industry in recent years, producing drones, armored vehicles, naval systems, sensors and military aviation platforms.
The defense focus was also visible in the mission’s program, though Queen Mathilde’s earlier visit to Baykar and her meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are best understood as part of the broader political and defense-industry backdrop to the mission.
Trade and investment were also central to the visit.
Bolat said Turkey and Belgium aim to raise bilateral trade to $15 billion, up from $9.3 billion in 2025.
He said Belgian investments in Turkey had reached nearly $5 billion, while Turkish investments in Belgium were approaching $750 million.
Belgium’s foreign ministry says Turkey is Belgium’s fifth-largest trading partner outside the European Union.
Belgian officials have described Turkey as a market of more than 85 million people and a manufacturing, logistics and transport hub linking Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Turkish officials have used the visit to argue that Turkey should be included more fully in European supply chains, defense planning and trade frameworks.
Bolat said European Union trade and industrial policies should be inclusive and should not exclude Turkish companies from European value chains.
The official delegation is expected to continue the mission in Ankara on Wednesday and Thursday after Queen Mathilde completes the İstanbul portion of the program.