Turkey develops local arms sector
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Yasemin Sim Esmen
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 12, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Even though a new report from a Sweden-based think tank shows Turkey falling back from Greece in terms of weapons imports, weapons stocks continue to grow on both sides of the Aegean Sea, with Turkey relying more on domestic manufacturers rather than overseas suppliers
Greece is holding strong among the world’s top spenders on weapons imports while Turkey has slipped down the rankings in the last five years. But the weapons race is still tight, as Turkey has been shifting away from direct imports and increasing domestic production of armaments.
Although Turkey’s Middle Eastern neighbors suffer turmoil, it is her western neighbor Greece that made it into the world’s Top 5 on the weapons importers’ list. Greece ranks fifth in the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, in its Arms Transfers Database report released April 27.
"The arming of countries where there is war or the possibility of war is understandable. However, Greece and Greek Cyprus making such large military spending to buy weapons is not understandable. Can it be, that calculations of another ’fait accompli’ are being made?" asked Yaman Törüner of the daily Milliyet in his column yesterday.
Daily Radikal columnist Erdal Güven did not agree with Törüner. "This is odd at the point the general Turkey-Greek relationships have reached," he said. Güven said it is Greece’s problems with other countries, such as Macedonia and Albania, rather than disputes with Turkey in the Aegean that is prompting the increase in Greece’s weapons acquisitions. "And [military] spending is done according to threat assessments," he said.
Yet Professor Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, said Turkey’s current foreign policy might have caused Greece to be concerned about the future of bileteral relations.
"Turkey is moving away from the West. Speaking to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, to Sudan, and taking sides with Hamas," said Inbar.
"There was a better understanding between Greek and Turkish leaders, but the foreign policy of the Justice and Development Party [AKP] has changed this." He said he hoped Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s planned visits to Greece in June would help better the relations.
Inbar said there are historic fears of Turkey in Greece dating back to the Ottoman times. "Greeks do not forget easily," he said.
Greece ranked as the fifth-largest recipient of conventional weapons between 2004 and 2008, after China, India, United Arab Emirates and South Korea. The country is responsible for 4 percent of the total global arms imports. It receives 31 percent of its weapons from Germany, 24 percent from the United States, and 24 percent from France.
According to SIPRI, in recent years Greece has become the largest importer of major conventional weapons in Europe. Greece has risen from being the world’s ninth-largest recipient of major conventional weapons for the period of 1995 to 2002 to fifth place for 2003 to 2008. Meanwhile, Turkey’s acquisition of conventional weapons has dropped in recent years.
Turkey has fallen from the third-largest recipient of major conventional weapons for 1995 to 2002 to tenth place for 2003 to 2008. "There is a big difference between Greece and Turkey when their armaments are compared. No matter how much weaponry Greece acquires, it will not match Turkey," said Güven.
This is a point agreed to by Assistant Professor Gökhan İnalhan at Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics. İnalhan is a member of the Aeronautics Panel at the Defense Ministry’s Research and Development Branch and the vice president of the NATO SCI-186 Program, which builds manned and unmanned air vehicles. Turkey’s importation of conventional weaponry, however, has dropped since 2003, İnalhan said, adding that this drop in recent years was due to a number of reasons. "Turkey used to buy weapons in bulk. Now, we make specific acquisitions, buying only what we need," he said.
Another reason for Turkey’s decreased weapons imports is the decrease in the country’s dependence on foreign arms goods. "The tenders used to be given to foreign companies. But now they are given to Turkish companies. Sometimes these companies buy parts from abroad. But this way, it looks as if it is TAI that buys, not Turkey. It looks like Turkey does not buy directly from abroad," İnalhan said.
Although Turkey’s Middle Eastern neighbors suffer turmoil, it is her western neighbor Greece that made it into the world’s Top 5 on the weapons importers’ list. Greece ranks fifth in the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, in its Arms Transfers Database report released April 27.
"The arming of countries where there is war or the possibility of war is understandable. However, Greece and Greek Cyprus making such large military spending to buy weapons is not understandable. Can it be, that calculations of another ’fait accompli’ are being made?" asked Yaman Törüner of the daily Milliyet in his column yesterday.
Daily Radikal columnist Erdal Güven did not agree with Törüner. "This is odd at the point the general Turkey-Greek relationships have reached," he said. Güven said it is Greece’s problems with other countries, such as Macedonia and Albania, rather than disputes with Turkey in the Aegean that is prompting the increase in Greece’s weapons acquisitions. "And [military] spending is done according to threat assessments," he said.
Yet Professor Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, said Turkey’s current foreign policy might have caused Greece to be concerned about the future of bileteral relations.
"Turkey is moving away from the West. Speaking to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, to Sudan, and taking sides with Hamas," said Inbar.
"There was a better understanding between Greek and Turkish leaders, but the foreign policy of the Justice and Development Party [AKP] has changed this." He said he hoped Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s planned visits to Greece in June would help better the relations.
Inbar said there are historic fears of Turkey in Greece dating back to the Ottoman times. "Greeks do not forget easily," he said.
Greece ranked as the fifth-largest recipient of conventional weapons between 2004 and 2008, after China, India, United Arab Emirates and South Korea. The country is responsible for 4 percent of the total global arms imports. It receives 31 percent of its weapons from Germany, 24 percent from the United States, and 24 percent from France.
According to SIPRI, in recent years Greece has become the largest importer of major conventional weapons in Europe. Greece has risen from being the world’s ninth-largest recipient of major conventional weapons for the period of 1995 to 2002 to fifth place for 2003 to 2008. Meanwhile, Turkey’s acquisition of conventional weapons has dropped in recent years.
Turkey has fallen from the third-largest recipient of major conventional weapons for 1995 to 2002 to tenth place for 2003 to 2008. "There is a big difference between Greece and Turkey when their armaments are compared. No matter how much weaponry Greece acquires, it will not match Turkey," said Güven.
This is a point agreed to by Assistant Professor Gökhan İnalhan at Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics. İnalhan is a member of the Aeronautics Panel at the Defense Ministry’s Research and Development Branch and the vice president of the NATO SCI-186 Program, which builds manned and unmanned air vehicles. Turkey’s importation of conventional weaponry, however, has dropped since 2003, İnalhan said, adding that this drop in recent years was due to a number of reasons. "Turkey used to buy weapons in bulk. Now, we make specific acquisitions, buying only what we need," he said.
Another reason for Turkey’s decreased weapons imports is the decrease in the country’s dependence on foreign arms goods. "The tenders used to be given to foreign companies. But now they are given to Turkish companies. Sometimes these companies buy parts from abroad. But this way, it looks as if it is TAI that buys, not Turkey. It looks like Turkey does not buy directly from abroad," İnalhan said.