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While Turkish military industries have taken a painful blow from Washington by subjecting them to unprecedented sanctions from the United States ally that hamper many of its arms projects, another crisis that can be described as a “puzzle” threatens a weapon that Qatar has invested and which Turkey has promoted as its original parts.
The “Altai” tank, which Ankara considers the pride of the local industry, is still waiting for its most important component, the engine, to come to light.
The Turkish Defense Industries Administration contracted the German company MTU Engine to supply it with an MTU 883 engine with a capacity of 1,500 hp, but the German side suspended delivery for a year.
The United States imposed sanctions last week on Turkey’s Defense Industries Administration and its president, Ismail Demir.
The sanctions include a ban on all U.S. export licenses and permits for the Defense Industries Administration, an asset freeze for Dr. Ismail Demir, head of the Department of Defense Industries, and other officials there, and visa restrictions. for them.
The website of Ahwal, a specialist in Turkish affairs, quoted Caglar Korç, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University, that European countries are expected to voluntarily block export licenses for sectors of the Turkish military industry. , and “there may be some multiplier effect from the perspective of European providers of this.” Situation. “European companies could avoid agreements with Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries to maintain friendly relations with the United States.
It appears that Germany’s continued refusal to deliver the engines needed to operate the Turkish tanks comes in this context, which will lead to a production freeze, as there is no value for tanks that are not moving, according to the site.
The ruling party is trying to evade its responsibilities and blame Germany for refusing to deliver the engines. Mehmet Emin Akbashoglu, deputy head of the AK Party bloc, attributed that the serial production of the Altai tank had been delayed because Germany had not fulfilled its obligations and had delivered the agreed engines to operate these tanks.
Although some AKP officials accuse Germany without naming the German company, Ismail Demir, head of Turkey’s Defense Industries Administration, said in January 2020: “MTU Engen told us in his recent correspondence and meetings that things too Iran. Well, since then, Demir has not made any further comment on the German company, which is a year late.
Qatar Funds
The interesting thing is that the Altai tank project is funded by Qatar’s ally, which has been pumping its money into all economic sectors to save Ankara from a financial crisis, but its entry into the military industries sparked great anger in political circles.
In March 2019, Qatar signed an agreement with Turkey to buy 100 Turkish “Altai” type tanks, before the Turkish government decided to sell a Ministry of Defense tank factory to a company in which Qatar owns a large stake, prompting large Turkish protests from opposition parties against ‘exotic’ investments.
The leader of the Turkish opposition and the head of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, continued his threat to nationalize Qatari investments in his country. In a press release, Kilicdaroglu said: “The Turkish government gave Qatar 500 billion pounds, instead of giving it to traders, and not even a penny was given to thousands of traders, and a 90 million discount was given. dollars to a Qatari company in one go. “
During a press conference, he denounced the granting of a stake in a Turkish tank factory to Qatar, where he stressed that this tank factory is “the honor of this country”, wondering: “What country in the world receives a tank factory for another country? .. If this is the case, then if Qatar was established it is a tank factory, so let’s take advantage of it too. “
According to the Turkish website Ahval, the profits Qatar thought it would make on this project ran into many problems.
On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions on several people for their association with the Turkish Defense Industries Administration, as Washington imposed sanctions on the administration of these industries and its director, Ismail Demir.
Under the sanctions announced by the United States Treasury, the Presidency of the Defense Industry will not be able to obtain a license to export the United States to third countries, nor will it obtain large loans from the United States and international financial institutions.
It appears that Germany’s continued refusal to deliver the engines needed to operate the Turkish tanks comes in this context, which will lead to a production freeze, as there is no value for tanks that are not moving, depending on the conditions.
The Turkish opposition accuses Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of making unclear and semi-secret deals with his friends in the Qatari royal family.
According to Ahl, Qatar may appear at first glance to benefit from this deal, but the production freeze and the inability of the factory to substantially demonstrate the success of these tanks, makes the Turkish and Qatari partners suffer a double loss.
The article expresses the opinion of its author and is not necessarily the policy of the site.
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