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Europe
U.S. WORRIED IT WILL BE SHUT OUT OF TURKEY
2004-11-27
The United States has been concerned that its defense firms would be excluded from Turkey's attack helicopter project.
Turkey, on the other hand, should be worrying seriously about the way it's losing ties to the U.S.
The Bush administration has expressed concern that Turkey's Defense Ministry would seek to select European defense contractors in an attempt to win membership in the European Union and acquire industrial expertise and technology. The administration was said to have raised the issue with the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. U.S. officials in Washington as well as diplomats in Ankara have discussed Turkey's military procurement plans. The U.S. representatives complained that the requirements sought for the Turkish Land Forces helicopter program would rule out U.S. defense contractors. Turkey has sought U.S. help for the modernization of Ankara's military. Last month, the Bush administration announced U.S. plans to upgrade Turkey's entire F-16 multi-role fighter fleet in a sale that could reach $3.9 billion. Congress was expected to approve Turkey's request for the aircraft modernization project, which would include the sale of advanced air-to-air missiles to Ankara.
Posted by:Fred

#12  I just wonder what they're going to do once they figure out that they are never going to be allowed to join the EU.

What I'm curious about is how long they'll allow themselves to be bamboozled into thinking that it'll actually happen.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-11-27 10:06:47 PM  

#11  It's a holiday Db, it's allowed.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-27 5:51:38 PM  

#10  Good God, I'm agreeing with Aris!
Never thought I would ever type that, btw.....
I just wonder what they're going to do once they figure out that they are never going to be allowed to join the EU.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2004-11-27 5:24:50 PM  

#9  When are the members of our government going to get a clue that the Turkey of today is not the Turkey of yesterday???

True. I mean the Turkeys of yesterday massacred the Armenians, was on the German side in WW1, stayed neutral in WW2, oppressed the Kurds and invaded Cyrpus, while the Turkey of today ohmigod didn't let American troops pass through its soil.

Plural intentional btw.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2004-11-27 4:04:19 PM  

#8  RWV - I believe that moment of truth came when the Turkish military allowed the Turkish Parliament to vote down their stalwart NATO ally the simple traditional "right of passage" to enter Iraq. We're just now getting around to correcting the "insurgency" that situation allowed to become established. I'd call it a fait accomplis. They are not just anti-war, they're on the other side. I attribute hundreds of American dead to Turkey's betrayal. Q.E.D.
Posted by: .com   2004-11-27 12:54:14 PM  

#7  On a more serious note, the truly troubling thing about events in Turkey is the infiltration of the Turkish military by militant Islam. The Turkish Army has been the bulwark of secularism and the forces of modernization of the state since Attaturk. If the Army becomes Islamic, then Turkey will become just another Mideastern backwater.
Posted by: RWV   2004-11-27 12:43:48 PM  

#6  Turkey will be admitted to the EU once it renounces Islam, all its citizens convert to Christianity, it moves its capital to Constantinople, and says pretty please.
Posted by: RWV   2004-11-27 12:39:51 PM  

#5  I'm frightened of being denied entrace to New Jersey.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-27 12:29:56 PM  

#4  Chirac's cabal has these goofs in the bag - no telling just how many different deals are part of the game.

Suckers.
Posted by: .com   2004-11-27 11:09:47 AM  

#3  I guess I should be glad they are buying their equipment from the French. Maybe we can convince them to purchase a few aircraft carriers from them too.
Posted by: 2b   2004-11-27 10:35:48 AM  

#2  Relax, 2b. All this is is a defense pork procurement thing. The Ottomans are just trying to butter up the frogs EU by offering them instead of boeing some defense pork contracts. Sadly, yet amusingly, the Ottomans do not seem to realize that hell will freeze before they are admitted to the EU. Boeing is not hurting for work, their protests notwithsanding, and do you realy want a potential enemy to have real, first line equipment anyway?
Posted by: N Guard   2004-11-27 9:43:49 AM  

#1  pretending that the Turks are anything but our enemies, and arming them, is a mistake of the magnitude of arming Sadaam Hussein. When are the members of our government going to get a clue that the Turkey of today is not the Turkey of yesterday??? It's like foreign countries dealing with US under GW the same way they dealt with us under Clinton or Carter. It's stupid, ignorant and foolish to do so. 3.9 billion is peanuts compared to what it's going to cost to deal with these backstabbing, lying, two-faced, Chirac-wannabes in the future. We don't need to cut off relations, and we can still shake hands and kiss cheeks - but be sure to wash your hands and shower well immediately afterward. Arm the "good" Kurds and treat the current leaders of Turkey as what they are, Islamist enemies.
Posted by: 2b   2004-11-27 8:41:19 AM  

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