TR Defence

Past grievances no obstacle to better ties: Armenians

ssm — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:23:26 +0000

Gyumri, the second-largest city in northwestern Armenia with a population of approximately 160,000 people, is strongly seeking the reopening of the border with Turkey in order to resuscitate the local economy.

Although Armenian politicians in their initial statements about the possibility of normalization of this country’s strained relations with Turkey following the parliamentary elections last Sunday were not upbeat, most people continue to expect to see an improvement in the troubled relationship between the two countries, urging Turkey to open its border with Armenia.

Sagis, a 57-year-old lottery ticket seller in Yerevan, who didn’t want to give his last name like many people here, says his great grandfather came to Armenia from Turkey’s Muş province. He said, “Neighbors should be friends.” Azniv, an 85-year-old retired teacher, told us, “We don’t need enemies, we need friendship.” According to Arman, a 37-year-old businessman who is country director of Fedex in Yerevan, Turkey and Armenia have no choice but to normalize their relations because they are neighbors.

Most Armenians here say the symbolic step in that direction would be for Turkey to open its border with Armenia, which it closed in 1993 following the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani soil, including Nagorno-Karabakh.

Tigren, 33, the co-manager of a Pizza Hut in Yerevan, says: “The border has to be opened. It will be good for us economically.”

The city that wants the border to be reopened most is Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia with a population of 160,000. Gyumri’s rundown streets and the visible poverty level of the city are in high contrast with the well-maintained streets of Yerevan.

Alexander Ter Minasiyon, a tourism agency operator in the city, says: “In Gyumri we know the difficulty of living in a border town near a closed border. To get to Kars, which is only 90 kilometers away, we travel 497 kilometers via Georgia. We lose about 10,000 tourists every year,” noting that the city of Kars on the Turkish border also wants the border to be opened. He added that there is a Russian base on the Armenian part of the border facing the Ani ruins [in Kars], and the soldiers don’t allow tourists to even look at the site across the border.

“The financial cost of the border being closed is huge. I don’t agree with the politicians who say we can get along without Turkey. We are losing a lot,” says Levon Barseghyan, who notes that Turkish products cost 30 times what they should cost because they are delivered through Georgia.

Vahan Khachatryan, a businessman who owns Gala TV, a network that broadcasts in the Gyumri region, says he has been looking for a Turkish partner for his soap manufacturing business, noting that the border being closed is causing delays in communication and transportation.

The irony lies in the Russian military units near the border that Gyumri wants to see open. The Russians are protecting the population from a “potential threat” from Turkey. There are also Russian troops and a radar unit inside the town.

Border towns on the other side are also suffering from the situation. “The illicit trade between Turkey and Armenia as of 2011 had reached a volume of around $280 million, according to unofficial figures,” says Noyan Soyak from the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC).

“It is possible to say that this figure can increase up to three times in a very short period. Opening the border would ensure that goods from the eastern and southeastern Anatolian regions arrive in Yerevan in four to five hours, shortening the time greatly,” Soyak adds. “We perceive the possibility of the trade volume between Turkey and Armenia reaching $1 billion, including tourism revenue, in three years if the border were open,” he said.

According to the TABDC, the most attractive sectors for Turkish traders and investors are textiles, machinery and the food industry, and, of course, there is great potential for untouched sectors such as transportation, energy and information technologies.

But Vartan Oskanian, a former foreign minister and an important figure in the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), which came in second place in the elections, points to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as the main obstacle to opening the border. He said: “So our focus should be on Nagorno-Karabakh. If we can solve that problem, then Turkey will open the border.”

Gyumrian artist Aleksey Manukyan says: “The Karabakh issue is costing us dearly. We still have an eastern mentality; we can’t act pragmatically. People don’t voice this openly, but such is the situation.”

One person who can’t wait to see the day the border is opened is Karine Petrosyan, the chief of the Akhurian Train Station. She remembers that the last train from Turkey arrived in Akhurian in April of 1993. “I will retire 10 years from now. I want to see that train again before I retire.” She says the village of Akhurik, after which the station is named, has been affected negatively by the border closing. Many young people left the village. There are also people who say Turkey should first recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in 1915 as genocide. One such person is Eleonora, a 25-year-old bank clerk. “We can’t possibly normalize our relations before Turkey admits the genocide.” Armen Pahlevenyan, a taxi driver in Gyumri, agrees. “Nothing can be described as normal unless Turkey recognizes the genocide,” said Pahlevenyan, whose great grandfather had to migrate to Gyumri from Kars.

Nana (19), a university student from Gyumri, says once Turkey recognizes the genocide, the past will stop haunting both countries.

Others, yet, prefer to look to the future instead of setting the genocide as a prerequisite for better relations. Smbat, a 55-year-old Armenian who didn’t want to give his second name, also has his roots in Kars. His family was forced to come to Yerevan during the 1915 incidents. “Whatever happened is in the past. We should now open the border. We want a better life for ourselves and for our children. We, as Armenians, aren’t after revenge. We want good neighborly relations. And Turkey should also want this.” Milla Kazanian (21) of Yerevan also agrees, saying: “The past is in the past. Now is the time to look forward. The border should reopen, and our relations should go back to normal.” Felix, an 18-year-old university student, said, “The past shouldn’t be an obstacle to the normalization of ties, but we would like Turkey to recognize the genocide.” On the Turkish side, there is concern that recognition would bring up the issue of reparations.

Galust Sahakyan, leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) parliamentary faction, meanwhile, indicated that Armenian leaders had their own red lines that will take priority over any form of reconciliation pact. He said at a meeting with a group of Turkish journalists on Friday, “For us, the Karabakh problem and the genocide issue are more important than a restart in relations with Turkey.”

“It is not enough to admit and then to apologize. Responsibilities such as returning land and paying compensation should also be fulfilled,” says Giro Manoyan, from the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), a socialist party that nevertheless is known for its staunch Armenian nationalism. The votes for the party fell from 12 percent in the 2007 elections to 5 percent in this year’s elections.

Gala TV owner Khachatryan says: “What’s important is that Turkey opens the border. When people can freely interact, they will say ‘we are sorry.’ The historical facts of the past should be accepted, and we should all look forward.”

Brazil, Turkey vow to deepen military ties

Editor — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:29:22 +0000

Brazil and Turkey’s defense chiefs vowed Monday to boost military ties and technology transfers between the two emerging nations.

At a meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim and his visiting counterpart Ismet Yilmaz signed a letter of intent formalizing a move to “develop cooperation between the defense industries of both countries, including technology transfer and joint projects.”

Yilmaz, at the start of a week-long visit to Brazil, has expressed interest in the South American nation’s aerospace technologies, cybernetics and the unmanned aerial craft.

At a leadership meeting in October, the two countries moved toward a closer relationship with vows to boost trade and strengthen ties.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on a visit to Ankara that trade between the two countries stood at $2 billion in 2011, and Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul said the countries have a target of reaching $10 billion “in a very short period of time.”

Co-development of a new regional airliner by Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer and Turkey’s TAI is expected to be among the projects topping their bilateral agenda.

AFP/NOW

Turkey capable of building own navy

Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:24:05 +0000

Turkish Navy's "New Type" Patrol Boat

Turkey’s shipbuilding industry has come to a level where it can produce all of its navy needs or parts – with the exception of submarines and engines – one senior procurement official said at the weekend.

“Among our armed forces, probably the most developed is the navy,” the official said. “We can produce 70 or 80 percent of all [naval] needs.

The sole exception is submarines, and we are moving with concrete steps on that,” the procurement official added.

The largest boats in Turkey’s surface fleet are the frigates, and Turkey is nearing their manufacture. It has produced two corvettes, the only ship in the warship category smaller than that. It has put to sea the TCG Heybeliada, one of them, in 2008 and last year the ship was accepted by the navy.

It also completed production of the second corvette, the TCG Büyükada. This year Turkey should select a private shipping contractor to build six corvettes. It also has to decide this year whether the Milgem corvette project will end at eight or 12, meaning the total price for the whole program will reach $2 billion or $3 billion.

Then around 2020, the country will launch what is today known as TF2000, or the Turkish frigate program. Both Britain and the United States are competing for that program with their own frigate systems.

Turkey presently can also produce a New Type Patrol Boat, Coast Guard Research and Rescue Boat and Tank Landing Ships, the procurement official said.

“We can also export the smaller ships we produce to friendly and allied countries,” he said. Islamic countries are particularly interested in those, he said.

“As part of our engine development plans, we also are developing our own engines,” said the procurement official.
Separately, a 2 billion-euro submarine deal between SSM and Germany’s HDW shipyards for joint manufacture of six modern U-214 diesel platforms for the Turkish Navy formally took effect in July 2010.

“This will be the last submarine we will be building with someone else,” the procurement official said.
In a less orthodox project, Ankara has plans to a buy a landing platform dock (LPD) a vessel that looks like a helicopter carrier and can transport up to a battalion-sized unit (more than 1,000 troops) long distances.

Turkey plans to use this ship for NATO-related missions to carry troops or refugees.

According to the size and capabilities, the Turkish LPD will cost between $500 million and $1 billion.

Presently, the Turkish Navy includes nearly 49,000 personnel and has 75 aircraft, 17 frigates, seven corvettes, 14 submarines and 27 fast missile boats.

HDN

U.S. drone strike kills 10 in Pakistan

Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:18:51 +0000

An armed Predator drone flying over a desert.

A U.S. drone aircraft killed at least ten people on Saturday in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, Pakistani security officials said.

In Saturday’s strike, a drone fired missiles at a house in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing the ten, said the officials who declined to be identified.

Shawal is a remote area of forested ridges and valleys that spreads out on both sides of the border.

The identity of those killed in the strike was yet not known and officials said they were trying to collect more information from the far-flung mountainous area.

Saturday’s attack was the second strike since parliament in March approved new guidelines on relations with the United States, which included a call for an end to drone attacks on Pakistani territory.

A Pakistani parliamentary committee recently demanded an end to drone strikes on Pakistani territory as part of its recommendations for how its relationship with the United States should change.

The United States has given no indication it intends to halt the campaign, and the administration of President Barack Obama has said the use of the remotely piloted aircraft is legal under international law.

Saturday’s U.S. drone strike is the 12th of its kind in Pakistan since this year. Up to date, at least 93 people have reportedly been killed in such strikes in 2012. The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people in Pakistan in the past eight years.

US, Turkey to produce 600 Blackhawks

Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:11:52 +0000

Turkey and the U.S. are seeking to sell some 500 “made in Turkey” Blackhawk helicopters to third countries, according to Francis J. Ricciardone, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara. “We will see over 600 Blackhawk helicopters, very high technology helicopters, produced here in Turkey. The great majority of these helicopters will go to third markets, third countries,” said Ricciardone during a Turkish-American business council lunch in Istanbul on May 4.

Around one hundred of these helicopters will be used by the Turkish Armed Forces, the ambassador confirmed. U.S. firm Sikorsky Aircraft won a $3.5 billion competition in April 2011 to lead the production of more than 100 large utility helicopters for Turkey over Italy’s AgustaWestland. The defense firm is mainly set to cooperate with local Alp Aviation in production. Along with Alp,
Ricciardone said some other important firms would also contribute to the making of the utility helicopters.

Sikorsky also became the first major international company to formally announce it would also seek to win the light utility helicopter contest in May last year. However, no exact date had been decided for the production of Blackhawks, said an Alp Aviation spokesperson.

Possible buyers were also not clear yet, public relations representative Melek Akdoğan told the Hürriyet Daily News during a phone interview on May 4.

Riccardione also said that the U.S. supported Turkey’s ambitious 2023 target to become one of the world’s largest 10 economies.

“Yesterday I met with the representatives of Turkey’s Economy Ministry and we had talks with more than 70 firms,” he said during his speech.

“The ministry found a chance to show them all the opportunities in Turkey,” he said.

The envoy also said that Turkey and the U.S. should cooperate more in the fields of defense, technology, information and aerospace, adding that the dynamism in the Turkish economy could be seen by the newly built roads, airports, residences and malls across the country.

HDN

Cobra to be produced in Kazakhstan

Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:50:36 +0000

Cobra armored infantry fighting vehicle is expected to be produced in Kazakhstan, a close ally with whom Turkey shares cultural, historic and linguistic ties.

Otokar, producer of the Cobra IFV and Kazakhstan Engineering has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the production of an undisclosed number of Cobra vehicles. According to the agreement, a new joint venture will be formed and Otokar will provide technical assistance and know how in order to facilitate the assembly of the vehicles locally in Kazakhstan.

Cobra is a lightweight, armored, all terrain vehicle featuring a modular design that can be customized for a wide range of missions including amphibious operations. The vehicle has so far achieved significant export success and is operational in over ten countries.

SSM releases timetable for major projects

ssm — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:43:00 +0000

A prototype of T-129 Atak helicopters co-developed by Turkey and Italian AgustaWestland is seen during a test flight. First Atak is planned to be delivered by 2013.

Turkey’s Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry has disclosed a new five-year strategic plan, which finalizes completion dates for key projects including Turkish-made tanks, aircraft, satellites, destroyers, and helicopters, in a bid to lift the country’s defense industry into a higher league.

Altay, the Turkish-made tank project, will be complete by the end of 2015, the plan says. The first Turkish destroyer will be delivered in 2016. Atak, an attack helicopter, and Anka, an unmanned aerial vehicle, will be delivered in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

More than 280 projects have been carried out since 2011, according to the new 2012-2016 strategic plan. The total value of the contracts the undersecretariat signed last year was about $27.3 billion.

Top 10 Within Five Years

The plan envisages Turkey’s defense industry entering the top 10 worldwide within five years. The total turnover target for defense and aerospace industry exports for 2016 is $2 billion, out of an overall industry turnover of $8 billion, according to the plan.

Turkey will establish liaison offices in the Middle East, the Far East, the U.S., the Caucasus-Central Asia, and in Europe (EU-NATO). The undersecretariat will encourage collaboration between prime contractors, sub-industries, and small and medium enterprises, with universities and research institutions improving the technological base.

The Turkish government will support the establishment of testing and certification centers that meet international standards, in order to meet non-military and non-public sector demands. A land vehicle test center, a high-speed wind tunnel, an aerial vehicle flight test field, a missile systems test field, a satellite assembly center, and an integration and testing center will be among these facilities, according to the strategic plan.

Arms Projects Timetable

The strategic defense plan has laid out dates for the deadlines to manufacture the first domestically produced prototypes in the local defense industry.

A radar observation satellite will be ready by 2016.

The third-generation of the main battle tank, Altay, will be manufactured by the end of 2015.

The first destroyer will be delivered to the Turkish Navy by the end of 2016. Studies regarding development of a submarine will be completed by 2015.

Atak, a national attack helicopter, will be delivered by 2013. An all-purpose helicopter will be delivered by the end of 2016.

The mass production of a national infantry rifle starts in July.

Hürkuş, a training aircraft designed by TUSAŞ, and Anka, an unmanned aerial vehicle, will be delivered to the Turkish Air Force by the end of 2015 and 2014 respectively. And a jet motor prototype will be ready by 2016.

Long-range and medium-range anti-tank rocket systems will be in the inventory of the Turkish army by the end of 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Semi Active Laser Guided Missile, CIRIT, will be mass produced and integrated to ATAKs by the end of 2013.

Low and medium altitude air defense systems will be designed by the end of 2016.

MoD: Gov’t will not talk to terrorists

ssm — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:28:59 +0000

Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz (Photo: Cihan)

Turkey will not let an armed organization roam freely in its mountains nor will it talk to terrorists, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said on Monday in an interview with Today’s Zaman.

Speaking about the government’s recently announced shift of strategy in fighting terrorism, Yılmaz said, “Men with weapons in their hands will not roam our mountains.”

According to Yılmaz, the terrorist network Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK), an umbrella organization that includes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliated groups, including the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), as Turkish prosecutors claim, voices the demands of the men with guns. He said the government would like to see a democratic organization as the representatives of the people of Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast.

The minister also dismissed claims that a large number of generals currently jailed as suspects in ongoing trials into alleged coup d’état attempts could hamper the fight against terror. “Our military has the ability to carry out any task it is assigned with success,” he said.

He also criticized the General Staff’s “accreditation” policies, which do not grant some newspapers access to its news conferences or facilities. Yılmaz said such a press accreditation classification could never be approved by his ministry. “We don’t think this is proper,” he said. He also noted his belief that the accreditation problem faced by some newspapers will be solved.

The minister in addition noted that as Turkey advances its fight against terrorists, there will be no compromises on fundamental rights and freedoms. However, he said, “As long as the terrorists are in the mountains, the people of the region can’t exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms as they should.”

The minister also offered an assessment of the Uludere incident, where 34 civilians crossing the border with Iraq back into Turkey after a day of trading with merchants on the other side of the border were killed in an airstrike by Turkish fighter jets in late December 2011. “It is an incident that should have never happened. It is the state’s duty to be able to tell a terrorist from a smuggler.”

On BDP’s criticism of army chief

Minister Yılmaz also responded to a question on criticisms directed at Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel by the BDP, after the army chief voiced his opposition to offering education in public schools in the Kurdish language. Yılmaz said the BDP has every right to criticize whoever it deems necessary within the democratic system, adding: “But expressions that go well beyond the boundaries of criticism and turn into outright insults are unacceptable. It is impossible to tolerate these or words or act as if they were never uttered.”

In January, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) started legal action against BDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş for his statements targeting Özel. Demirtaş had said that Özel “is not even a corporal” in his eyes, after the army chief said he was opposed to the use of Kurdish in public schools. “Even if your rank is general, you are a corporal in our [the BDP's] eyes. Your value is just that. It does not matter for us whether it is a general or a corporal speaking. You have no value in our eyes,” the BDP leader said earlier in January.

Minister Yılmaz also shared his opinion on some of the ongoing trials into past coups d’état in Turkey. He said all of the military interventions of the past had been convicted in the collective conscience of the people. He also offered information on the recent number of applications filed by individuals who want to benefit from a scheme that allows them to pay TL 30,000 to shorten their military service to just 20 days. So far 18,973 applications have been made, earning the Treasury TL 444 million.

The minister gave information on the state of affairs in Turkey’s transition to a professional army. “Currently, 35 percent of the military — made up of NCOs, senior gendarmerie sergeants and senior sergeants in the military — are professional soldiers,” the minister said.

Changes planned in defense industry

The minister also said there were plans to reduce the number of direct purchases of defense industry equipment by the military, responding to criticism that defense companies such as TAI, Aselsan, Havelsan and Roketsan — which are all subsidiaries of the Foundation to Strengthen the Turkish Armed Forces (TSKGV) are not being managed well. “We are proud of the point at which our companies stand today. They need to be taken further; their competitive power needs to be increased. Only if this can be realized can these companies continue their existence. Most tenders are awarded directly, and this definitely undermines the competitive side of these companies. After this, we will minimize direct purchases from these companies and have them compete in tenders as suppliers.”

Syrian refugees seek safety in Turkey

ssm — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:22:06 +0000

Syrian refugees look through barbed wire from the Syrian side at the border between Syria and Turkey (AFP, Adem Altan)

A truck comes to a halt on the Syria-Turkey border, a group of refugees from the violence-torn country piles out, and only a barbed wire fence stands between them and freedom.

As the 15-odd newcomers anxiously wait for Turkish soldiers to search them and allow them into the sanctuary of a crowded refugee camp, the truck turns around and heads straight back into the conflict zone.

The route to safety was perilous.

More than a year of fighting has claimed over 9,000 lives, and Bashar al-Assad’s tanks and troops are relentlessly pushing on against rebel positions, turning towns into battlefields.

“We barely made it on our three-hour-trip,” says Cemal Arabi, a 42-year-old refugee, after the group arrived from the besieged rebel stronghold of Idlib. “Assad’s soldiers are deployed along the routes.”

He said their truck was escorted by members of the rebel Free Syrian Army as it made its escape.

Like many refugees, Arabi said the Syrian opposition needs more weapons.

“Assad’s troops have heavy weaponry — tanks, artillery — but we are short of weapons. We have nothing to fight with. Assad isn’t quitting because of the strength of his weaponry.”

“We want weapons from Erdogan, we want weapons from Turkey,” he said.

Turkey has given refuge to more than 17,000 Syrians and has emerged as the main haven for Syrian opposition groups and rebel fighters, but it refuses to arm the forces fighting the Assad regime.

Every day, between 200 and 700 more Syrians arrive at the border, say Turkish officials. Their numbers have escalated since the Syrian army overran rebel-held areas in Homs and Idlib in recent weeks.

Turkey, which shares a 910-kilometre (560 mile) border with Syria, has broken its former alliance with Damascus and called on Assad to step down, while remaining opposed to outside intervention.

The latest batch of newcomers shouted chants in praise of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a one-time ally and close friend of Assad.

“Erdogan, save us!” they chanted.

“We want Erdogan to intervene in Syria,” said Eyyub Arabi, speaking with AFP from the Syrian side of the border, in remarks translated from Arabic. “We want him to protect Syrians from Assad’s savagery.”

Erdogan and US President Barack Obama have recently agreed on the need to send “non-lethal” aid to Syrian rebels, including communications equipment.

The rebel movement, comprising deserters from Assad’s forces, has also been allowed by Ankara to establish a base in southern Turkey’s Hatay province near the border to plan operations against the Assad regime.

The newcomers waiting to cross the border were to be temporarily held in tents in Kusakli village on the Turkish side of the border and later transferred to one of the large refugee camps.

As Turkish soldiers told AFP reporters to leave the scene, citing security concerns, the group kept chanting: “We are fighting for freedom.”

AFP

Turkey sells mini drones to Qatar

ssm — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:17:47 +0000

In an effort to boost defense industry exports to Islamic states, Turkey has recently sold 10 mini drones to Qatar, a senior procurement official said Sunday.

The small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) were exported under a general agreement made during the International Defense Fair (IDEF), which convened in Istanbul May 2011, for the sale of Turkish defense goods to Qatar worth $120 million within a year.

This $2.5 million sale will become the first export of SUAVs by Turkey, and they will also be the first drones in Qatar’s inventory. The SUAVs, called “Bayraktar,” are made by Baykar Makina, which also produces the “Malazgirt” mini helicopter and the tactical “Çaldıran” unmanned aerial vehicle.

Turkey, which sold defense goods worth over $1 billion abroad in 2011, has recently attempted to bolster defense exports to Islamic countries.

In a separate development, the first drone to have been built entirely domestically by Turkey, the Anka, will compete in an international tender held by Colombia, even before entering service in Turkey, another senior procurement official said.

The Anka, Turkey’s first locally-made drone in the medium-altitude and long-endurance category, was successful in last year’s flight tests.

After crash landing in its first two attempts, the Anka successfully flew in the final two trials.

HDN