Turkey says aiming to finalise missile defence talks with China in April


ANKAR,
Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:43am GMT 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/uk-turkey-defense-idUKBREA1Q0JM20140227A  
 




 
  
(Reuters) - Turkey is aiming to finalise by April its negotiations with China over the procurement of a missile-defence system, Murad Bayar, undersecretary for the state-run defence industries, told reporters on Thursday.

Turkey announced in September it had chosen China's FD-2000 missile-defence system over rival offers from Franco-Italian Eurosam SAMP/T and U.S.-listed Raytheon Co. It said China offered the most competitive terms and would allow co-production in Turkey.

U.S. and NATO officials have raised concerns with Turkish officials about the decision to buy the system from CPMIEC, a company hit by U.S. sanctions for sales of items to either Iran, Syria or North Korea that are banned under U.S. laws to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz, Writing by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley)