Tweet
EurasiaNet.org
Jan 5 2015
U.S. Denies Turkey Leftover Warships
January 5, 2015 - 11:14am
by Joshua Kucera
The U.S. Congress has approved the handover of some leftover naval
vessels to allies, pointedly excluding Turkey from the list of
recipients.
In late December, the U.S. finally approved the long-delayed handover
of six naval frigates to Mexico and Taiwan. But the bill passed
Congress only after Turkey (along with Pakistan and Thailand) were
eliminated as potential recipients, for a variety of political
reasons.
In the 2012 version of the "Naval Transfer Act," Turkey was to receive
two Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates, the USS
Halyburton and the USS Thach, which are being decommissioned by the
U.S. Navy.
But the inclusion of Turkey proved controversial, as members of
Congress pointed out Turkey's increasingly hostile stance toward
Israel and its threats against natural gas exploration by American
companies near Cyprus. "I believe we should hold off on sending
powerful warships to Turkey and encourage the government in Ankara to
take a less belligerent approach to their neighbors," said
Representative Eliot Engel during that debate.
That bill was ultimately defeated, and an alliance of Greek, Jewish,
and Armenian lobbying groups took credit. But the defeat was only a
symbolic one, says Can Devrim Yaylali, a Turkish naval blogger, who
notes that the frigates in question were significantly more poorly
equipped than the ships Turkey currently operates (including those of
the same class) and could only have been cannibalized for spare parts.
"The lack of these frigates will not have any effect on the Turkish
Navy at all from a technical point of view," Yaylali tells The Bug
Pit. "If the US lawmakers tried to give some kind of a signal to the
Turkish government by not adding Turkey to the list of the nations
that may get a frigate is beyond my understanding. But if they did;
the message was not delivered as the medium is not the correct one."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71516
Jan 5 2015
U.S. Denies Turkey Leftover Warships
January 5, 2015 - 11:14am
by Joshua Kucera
The U.S. Congress has approved the handover of some leftover naval
vessels to allies, pointedly excluding Turkey from the list of
recipients.
In late December, the U.S. finally approved the long-delayed handover
of six naval frigates to Mexico and Taiwan. But the bill passed
Congress only after Turkey (along with Pakistan and Thailand) were
eliminated as potential recipients, for a variety of political
reasons.
In the 2012 version of the "Naval Transfer Act," Turkey was to receive
two Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates, the USS
Halyburton and the USS Thach, which are being decommissioned by the
U.S. Navy.
But the inclusion of Turkey proved controversial, as members of
Congress pointed out Turkey's increasingly hostile stance toward
Israel and its threats against natural gas exploration by American
companies near Cyprus. "I believe we should hold off on sending
powerful warships to Turkey and encourage the government in Ankara to
take a less belligerent approach to their neighbors," said
Representative Eliot Engel during that debate.
That bill was ultimately defeated, and an alliance of Greek, Jewish,
and Armenian lobbying groups took credit. But the defeat was only a
symbolic one, says Can Devrim Yaylali, a Turkish naval blogger, who
notes that the frigates in question were significantly more poorly
equipped than the ships Turkey currently operates (including those of
the same class) and could only have been cannibalized for spare parts.
"The lack of these frigates will not have any effect on the Turkish
Navy at all from a technical point of view," Yaylali tells The Bug
Pit. "If the US lawmakers tried to give some kind of a signal to the
Turkish government by not adding Turkey to the list of the nations
that may get a frigate is beyond my understanding. But if they did;
the message was not delivered as the medium is not the correct one."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71516