Turkish Weekly:
Turkey is nearing a final decision on the country to build its national missile defense system, as France challenges Chinawith a renewed offer, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, referring to Eurosam, the joint French-Italian offer.
“We are getting close to finalizing it,” Erdoğan told journalists responding to a question on the multibillion-dollar project while returning to Turkey from a trip to the Japanese capital of Tokyo.
“Chinese President [Xi Jinping] will be in Turkey in November as part of the G-20 [annual meeting],” Erdoğan said.
“France has also renewed its offer,” he said, adding that hisFrench counterpart, François Hollande, sent him a letter via Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu when they met at the United Nations General Assembly last month.
“What we are particularly focusing on in terms of the missile tender is joint production and technological gains,” he said, hinting at Turkey’s desire to participate in the development of a system that might add know-how to the country.
While responding to a question on whether a political choice would play a role in Turkey’s pick, Erdoğan said his previous negative statements about the European Unionwere linked to the fact that the bloc had strung “Turkey along for more than 50 years” over accession. However, during a recent visit to Brussels, which he visited before Japan, he witnessed a positive stance. “The situation is changing,” he said.
Ankara selected a Chinese company in September 2013 to build the air defense architecture, but immediately came under heavy pressure from its Western allies for the decision, it also opened parallel negotiations this summer with a European contender in the multibillion-dollar competition.
Contract negotiations with the Chinese manufacturer, China Precision Machinery Import Export Corp. (CPMIEC), are also in progress, but Erdoğan said earlier that talks had also been opened with Eurosam.
Following an assessment by Turkey’s top defense procurement agency, the Defense Industry Executive Committee selected CPMIEC as the best bidder and Eurosam as the second…
