Tweet
DEFENSE WORLD TO GATHER IN ANKARA NEXT WEEK
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 17 2007
Turkey's four-day long International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF'07),
which will host defense ministers as well as high-ranking commanders
from almost 45 countries with around 434 military companies displaying
their products, will start on May 22 at the Ankara Eryaman hippodrome.
The highest participation in the eighth edition of the fair --
organized by the Foundation for the Strengthening of the Turkish Armed
Forces (TSKGV) as well as fair organizers Tuyap under the sponsorship
of the Defense Ministry -- will be from host country Turkey with
157 companies. This will be followed by Germany with 59 companies;
the US with 31; Italy with 27; the UK with 26; and France with 20.
French military companies are prominent participants in the fair
despite the fact that France as a state was not officially invited
to attend. Ankara suspended its military-to-military contacts with
the country in protest of French parliament's approval of a bill in
October of last year, which made it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks
allegedly committed genocide against Armenians during World War I.
France has also decided to close down its Ankara office of the
Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA), the French defense
procurement agency, by the end of July as the arms deals between the
two countries have seen a decline in recent years.
According to the September 2006 report delivered to the French
Parliament by the DGA, Turkish military imports from France stayed
at around 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) between 1995 and 2005,
partly due to the Armenian genocide dispute.
Meanwhile Israel, South Korea, Pakistan, Spain and Sweden -- as well
as Switzerland, which Ankara included in its black-listed countries in
arms trade over the genocide dispute -- are also among the countries
with companies participating in the fair.
Increase in participation
A 61 percent increase in participation at this year's defense fair,
compared the last one held two years ago, indicates a visibly increased
interest in Turkey's lucrative arms market after a stagnation period
following the devastating February 2001 crisis.
Turkey's decision to change the season for holding the fair -- from
September to May -- has also played a role in the higher participation,
as September will witness other international defense fairs organized
elsewhere in the world, with arms companies unwilling to participate
in back-to-back fairs due to their high cost.
This year's fair will also mark a serious change in defense industry
policy, with local shares in arms projects increased to boost the
country's ailing defense industry.
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 17 2007
Turkey's four-day long International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF'07),
which will host defense ministers as well as high-ranking commanders
from almost 45 countries with around 434 military companies displaying
their products, will start on May 22 at the Ankara Eryaman hippodrome.
The highest participation in the eighth edition of the fair --
organized by the Foundation for the Strengthening of the Turkish Armed
Forces (TSKGV) as well as fair organizers Tuyap under the sponsorship
of the Defense Ministry -- will be from host country Turkey with
157 companies. This will be followed by Germany with 59 companies;
the US with 31; Italy with 27; the UK with 26; and France with 20.
French military companies are prominent participants in the fair
despite the fact that France as a state was not officially invited
to attend. Ankara suspended its military-to-military contacts with
the country in protest of French parliament's approval of a bill in
October of last year, which made it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks
allegedly committed genocide against Armenians during World War I.
France has also decided to close down its Ankara office of the
Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA), the French defense
procurement agency, by the end of July as the arms deals between the
two countries have seen a decline in recent years.
According to the September 2006 report delivered to the French
Parliament by the DGA, Turkish military imports from France stayed
at around 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) between 1995 and 2005,
partly due to the Armenian genocide dispute.
Meanwhile Israel, South Korea, Pakistan, Spain and Sweden -- as well
as Switzerland, which Ankara included in its black-listed countries in
arms trade over the genocide dispute -- are also among the countries
with companies participating in the fair.
Increase in participation
A 61 percent increase in participation at this year's defense fair,
compared the last one held two years ago, indicates a visibly increased
interest in Turkey's lucrative arms market after a stagnation period
following the devastating February 2001 crisis.
Turkey's decision to change the season for holding the fair -- from
September to May -- has also played a role in the higher participation,
as September will witness other international defense fairs organized
elsewhere in the world, with arms companies unwilling to participate
in back-to-back fairs due to their high cost.
This year's fair will also mark a serious change in defense industry
policy, with local shares in arms projects increased to boost the
country's ailing defense industry.