Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk, who began a visit to Turkey on Monday and who reportedly came to lobby for the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) main battle tank (MBT) tender, presented a letter from Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yuchenko to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on the MBT tender. According to reliable sources close to the government, Ukraine's prime minister wanted Ecevit's support for the MBT bid. Ukraine's Ukrspetsexport company, which has teamed up with Asmas, has entered the tender with T-84 models. 

The TSK plans to co-produce 1,000 new-generation MBTs and has initiated a tender for this purpose, in which four consortia are competing. U.S.-based General Dynamics Land Systems is offering the M1A2 fitted with a diesel engine and has joined forces with Turkish partner BMC. Ukraine's Ukrspetsexport has joined with Asmas to offer the T-84, while Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, producing the Leopard 2, has set up a consortium with Turkish company Otokar. Leclerc of France's Giat Industries has teamed with Roketsan. 

Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said on Monday that Turkey would not accept any foreign restrictions on the use of the MBTs to be purchased in the $7.1 billion tender. "We are saying that we do not want any restrictions. ... We don't want any limit saying, 'You can use these here or there'," Cakmakoglu said. 

Cakmakoglu's remarks followed a weekend decision by Germany's junior coalition partner Greens Party to block any sale of Leopard II tanks to Turkey. The granting of an export license for a sample Leopard last year sparked calls for an end to the Greens-Social Democrat coalition. Cakmakoglu said bidders should resolve the issue with their own governments and that it should not be presented as a problem between Turkey and those countries. 

Tarasyuk met on Tuesday with State Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen, who is co-chairman of Turkish-Ukrainian Joint Economic Commission (KEK). Before the meeting with Tarasyuk, Yucelen said that Turkey wanted to increase the trade volume with Ukraine. 

Prior to seeing Yucelen, the Ukrainian foreign minister visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and laid a wreath. (Turkish Daily News)