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U.S. Considers Unusual Arms Deal For Turkey

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  • U.S. Considers Unusual Arms Deal For Turkey

    U.S. CONSIDERS UNUSUAL ARMS DEAL FOR TURKEY
    By Jim Wolf

    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/10/30/u-s-considers-unusual-arms-deal-for-turkey/
    Sun, Oct 30 2011

    WASHINGTON (Reuters)-The Obama administration is consulting Congress on
    an unusual proposal to transfer U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopters
    to Turkey, U.S. officials said on Oct. 27, as Ankara tries to exact
    revenge for a major attack by Kurdish separatists.

    An AH-1 SuperCobra helicopter Turkey, a NATO ally, has been seeking
    AH-1 SuperCobra helicopters to replace those lost in its long struggle
    against separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

    Under the administration's plan, the Marines would get two new,
    late-model Textron Inc Bell AH-1Z SuperCobras in exchange for the
    three AH-1W aircraft that would be transferred to Ankara from current
    inventory, a congressional official said.

    The officials declined to be identified because of the matter's
    sensitivity and because they were not authorized to speak on the
    record. The idea to take weapons from the U.S. arsenal was rare,
    they said.

    The proposal has been held up amid lawmakers' questions about
    increasingly distant relations between Muslim-majority Turkey and
    Israel, a key U.S. ally, among other matters.

    The AH-1W has sold previously for about $10 million. Turkey bought
    10 of them in the 1990s. The larger, twin-engine AH-IZ may sell for
    about $30 million, according to industry sources.

    Under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, the executive branch must
    provide 15 days' formal notice to Congress before going ahead with
    significant arms transfers to a NATO partner. It was not immediately
    clear when such notice might take place, with informal congressional
    consultations continuing.

    Turkey last week launched air and ground assaults on Kurdish militants
    in northern Iraq, vowing to exact "great revenge" after 24 Turkish
    troops were killed on Oct. 19 in one of the deadliest Kurdish attacks
    in years.

    The PKK is designated a terrorist group by the United States. It is
    waging a 27-year-old war from bases inside Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan
    region. The administration's proposal to transfer the helicopters
    pre-dates the October 19 attack on Turkish forces near the border
    with Iraq.

    The United States and Turkey have a strong tradition of military
    cooperation, both bilaterally and inside the North Atlantic Treaty
    Organization.

    Turkey agreed last month to host a powerful U.S.-supplied radar system
    to act as advanced eyes for a layered shield against ballistic missiles
    coming from outside Europe.

    The AN/TPY-2 surveillance radar in Turkey will boost the shield's
    capability against Iran, which Washington alleges is seeking to build
    nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

    (Editing by Eric Walsh)

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