Turkeys Arms Industry (original) (raw)

Making Sense of Turkey’s Air and Missile Defense Merry-go-round

All Azimuth, 2019

At some point during 2013, Turkey’s political authority began to treat the in-country development and production of long-range air and missile defense systems as a priority. Soon after, they announced their decision to favor a Chinese offer that came complete with licensed production and the promise of technology transfer. Yet, with this decision came NATO’s objections and challenges around integration and information security. The 2015 decision to rollback the pro-China decision, and opt instead for the indigenous development of air and missile defense systems (in close conjunction with a foreign technological and industrial partner) was triggered by Turkey’s disillusion with the content of China’s technology transfer package. Subsequently, this new partner became a team comprising France and Italy; Turkish industry tied itself to this team in developing Europe’s next-generation missile defense capability. Then came the Turkish government’s 2017 decision to purchase off-the-shelf, standalone S-400 systems from Russia. This decision was an anomaly, and had all the characteristics of a top-down decision cycle running afoul of technical, operational, and industrial criteria. Turkey’s political figures have justified the S-400 order by citing the benefits of in-country production, access to technologies, not to mention the West’s refusal to sell comparable systems; but these justifications have been refuted by the Russian side and/or in discordant statements by Turkish institutions, authorities, and political figures themselves.

Analyses Turkish-Israeli Cooperation in the Context of Turkey’s “Zero Problem” Foreign Policy Ali Serdar

After the cold war era in 1990's, Turkey was in a position of seeking a partner in the Middle East that could provide cooperation in grooving security challenges from its Middle Eastern neighbours. Because of its geo-strategic importance in the regionshe has done the threat assessments again and has taken the necessary decisions to modernize her armed forces since the second half of 1990's. However, refrained contributions with the pretext of human rights violations of U.S.A. and western countries has led Turkey to put Israeli military and defence industry cooperation in the agenda. Turkish-Israeli relations that continued in a particu lar order since 1994 abruptly reached a braking point with a series of events after Israeli attack in Gazza at the end of 2008. What has changed in the situation to deteriorate the bilateral relations? This article analyses the changing trends in military and security relations between Turkey and Israel in regard to Justice and Develop ment Party government new foreign policy "zero problem with neighbours". It identifies factors that influence the deterioration of relations between two countries and puts forward the overall p icture of the current situation.

A Neo-Liberal Exception? The Defence Industry 'Turkification' Project

International Development Policy, 2017

Presented at once as an example, a proof, and even a condition of the economic, technological, political and security development of Turkey, the ‘Turkification’ of the defence industry lies at the heart of the government’s legitimacy. Following a socio-historical approach, this chapter aims to understand how this major project, inseparable from the ongoing formation of the state and of a national bourgeoisie organically related to it, was reconfigured in the neo-liberal era not despite globalisation but based on it, particularly through the commodification of Muslim solidarity and military protection. This project appears to constitute an instrument of ‘nationaliberal’ extraversion that is part of an unstable quest for hegemony, riven by numerous conflicts. http://www.brill.com/products/book/development-battlefield https://poldev.revues.org/2300

A New Way Forward: Rebalancing the U.S. Security Cooperation with Greece in a Fast Changing Geostrategic Environment

The Hellenic National Defense Forces (HNDF) modernization is at a crossroads because of the current and persistent Greek economic and fiscal crisis. After WW II until today, Greece benefitted from the U.S. security assistance and cooperation programs. Meanwhile, the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean regions geostrategic environment is changing fast to an unpredictable future. That said, Greece, and the U.S.A. under rebalanced approaches, should consider the U.S. security assistance and defense cooperation programs to meet HNDF modernization requirements and current security challenges for both countries in the region. A new framework of cooperation would serve common national security interest of both Greece and the United States in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean regions.

Turkey's Pivot to Eurasia: Geopolitics and Foreign Policy in a Changing World Order

2019

This book discusses and analyses the dimensions of Turkey’s strategic rapprochement with the Eurasian states and institutions since the deterioration of Ankara’s relations with its traditional NATO allies. Do these developments signify a major strategic reorientation in Turkish foreign policy? Is Eurasia becoming an alternative geopolitical concept to Europe or the West? Or is this ‘pivot to Eurasia’ an instrument of the current Turkish government to obtain greater diplomatic leverage? Engaging with these key questions, the contributors explore the geographical, political, economic, military and social dynamics that influence this process, while addressing the questions that arise from the difficulties in reconciling Ankara’s strategic priorities with those of other Eurasian countries like Russia, China, Iran and India. Chapters focus on the different aspects of Turkey’s improving bilateral relations with the Eurasian states and institutions and consider the possibility of developing a convincing Eurasian alternative for Turkish foreign policy. The book will be useful for researchers in the fields of politics and IR more broadly, and particularly relevant for scholars and students researching Turkish foreign policy and the geopolitics of Eurasia.

Europe and the Future Combat Air System

Rome, IAI, March 2019, 114 p. (Documenti IAI ; 19|02), 2019

The development of the next generation of combat aircraft, to be part of a system of systems with satellites, drones and other military assets, does represent the main technological challenges for air forces and aerospace industries in Western countries. This study analyses the approach to the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) in the US as well as in France, Germany, UK, Italy and Sweden, from the military, industrial and political points of view. Two competing initiatives are unfolding in Europe: a Franco-German project and the Tempest programme led by the UK. Such a competition creates a strategic choice for Italy, since Rome has to decide which next generation combat aircraft develop, from now on, to succeed the Eurofigther in service until the 2040s – while continuing the F-35 procurement and use. The study analyses the pros and cons of both initiatives, and recommends Rome to negotiate with London the joint development of a European FCAS, despite Brexit. A cooperation which should in the mid-term merge with the Franco-German project for the benefit of European defence and strategic autonomy.

Security Triangle in the Black Sea Region_US_Turkey_Russia_Panorama 2017-2018_Gaber.pdf

Panorama 2017-2018, 2019

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