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TURKEY LIKELY TO INK $3.4 BN CHINA MISSILE DEFENSE DEAL, RISKS TIES WITH U.S.
October 3, 2013 - 18:32 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey is likely to sign a $3.4 billion missile
defense deal with a Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions, a senior
official said on Thursday, October 3 a move that could strain relations
with Washington, Reuters said.
Turkey is scrambling to bolster its air defenses because it feels
its border is at risk of attacks spilling over from the war in
neighboring Syria.
Murad Bayar, Undersecretary of Defence Industries at the Defence
Ministry, told reporters in Ankara that Turkey could finalize the
deal with China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC)
within six months.
Turkey's Defence Ministry said last week it had chosen CPMIEC's FD-2000
missile defence system over more expensive rival systems from Russian,
U.S. and European firms. Turkish leaders have since stressed the deal
was not final.
The United States has expressed "serious concerns" over North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey cooperating with CPMIEC,
under sanctions for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria
Nonproliferation Act.
But Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey, which shares a 900-km
(560-mile) border with Syria and has NATO's second largest deployable
military force, urgently needed to step up its air defenses.
"With the latest crisis in Syria and the crises in the Middle East,
we have realized ... that however strong our armed forces are in
terms of conventional weapons, they are not at the desired level
to counter missile and related threats," he said in an interview on
local television late on Wednesday.
Turkey has seen Syria's conflict frequently spill across its frontier
and has responded in kind when mortars and shells fired from Syria
have hit its soil.
The government is also concerned about Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad's chemical weapons arsenal, particularly after a sarin nerve
gas attack on a Damascus suburb in August, and parliament is expected
later on Thursday to extend a mandate authorizing sending troops into
Syria if needed.
NATO sources have said Turkish collaboration with China on the system
could raise questions of compatibility of weaponry and of security.
For China, it would be a breakthrough in its bid to become a supplier
of advanced weapons.
Bayar said Turkey was not sharing any information on NATO defence
systems with China and that Turkey was not bound to comply with
sanctions placed on CPMIEC as they were not drawn up by the United
Nations.
"This is a short list and China is in first place. We are going to
invite the Chinese, the offer is on the table and we are going to
turn this offer into a contract," Bayar said.
"It is highly likely, a great probability, we will sign the contract
with the firm we have chosen in first place."
He said if the deal went ahead most of the production would be carried
out in Turkey.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170836/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
October 3, 2013 - 18:32 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey is likely to sign a $3.4 billion missile
defense deal with a Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions, a senior
official said on Thursday, October 3 a move that could strain relations
with Washington, Reuters said.
Turkey is scrambling to bolster its air defenses because it feels
its border is at risk of attacks spilling over from the war in
neighboring Syria.
Murad Bayar, Undersecretary of Defence Industries at the Defence
Ministry, told reporters in Ankara that Turkey could finalize the
deal with China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC)
within six months.
Turkey's Defence Ministry said last week it had chosen CPMIEC's FD-2000
missile defence system over more expensive rival systems from Russian,
U.S. and European firms. Turkish leaders have since stressed the deal
was not final.
The United States has expressed "serious concerns" over North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey cooperating with CPMIEC,
under sanctions for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria
Nonproliferation Act.
But Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey, which shares a 900-km
(560-mile) border with Syria and has NATO's second largest deployable
military force, urgently needed to step up its air defenses.
"With the latest crisis in Syria and the crises in the Middle East,
we have realized ... that however strong our armed forces are in
terms of conventional weapons, they are not at the desired level
to counter missile and related threats," he said in an interview on
local television late on Wednesday.
Turkey has seen Syria's conflict frequently spill across its frontier
and has responded in kind when mortars and shells fired from Syria
have hit its soil.
The government is also concerned about Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad's chemical weapons arsenal, particularly after a sarin nerve
gas attack on a Damascus suburb in August, and parliament is expected
later on Thursday to extend a mandate authorizing sending troops into
Syria if needed.
NATO sources have said Turkish collaboration with China on the system
could raise questions of compatibility of weaponry and of security.
For China, it would be a breakthrough in its bid to become a supplier
of advanced weapons.
Bayar said Turkey was not sharing any information on NATO defence
systems with China and that Turkey was not bound to comply with
sanctions placed on CPMIEC as they were not drawn up by the United
Nations.
"This is a short list and China is in first place. We are going to
invite the Chinese, the offer is on the table and we are going to
turn this offer into a contract," Bayar said.
"It is highly likely, a great probability, we will sign the contract
with the firm we have chosen in first place."
He said if the deal went ahead most of the production would be carried
out in Turkey.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/170836/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress