On the issue of the main battle tank (MBT) project contention has arisen between Turkey and Germany which led to Foreign Minister Ismail Cem canceling his official visit to Germany last Wednesday. Problems have been caused because of the German coalition government's insistence that it will only give export guarantees for Leopard 2 tanks under the condition that they will not be used in Turkey's troubled Southeast.

German Chancellor Gerhard Scroeder also cancelled his March 6 visit to Turkey in an attempt to avoid increasing tension with the coalition Green Party which opposes awarding export license guarantees to German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann competing in Turkey's MBT contest.

The recent row between Turkey and Germany erupted when Krauss-Maffei Wegmann officially applied to the German Foreign Ministry on March 14 for an export license to increase its chances in Turkey's tank tender.

However, a German government spokesman said that there is no chance of such a shipment being approved at present, citing concerns over human rights in Turkey.

The German reaction was followed by remarks by Turkish Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu who rejected any foreign restrictions on the use of the 1,000 MBTs planned to be co-produced in the $7 billion project.

In a meeting on March 20 with visiting Ukranian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk, Cakmakoglu said that bidders should resolve the issue with their own governments. "The situation should not be presented as a problem between Turkey and those countries," he emphasized.

As politics and technical specifications have emerged as two equally determining factors in Turkey's selection of final bidders in both projects, lobbying activities have intensified for the tank project. Tarasyuk lobbied for Ukranian-manufactured T-84 tanks competing in Turkey's tank project and offered unlimited export license guarantees to Ankara.

Turkish prime contractors have teamed with foreign companies offering MBT designs. U.S. General Dynamics Land Systems, offering the M1A2 fitted with a diesel engine, has teamed with BMC. Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, bidding the Leopard 2A6, has established a consortium with Otokar. Offering the Leclerc, France's Giat Industries has teamed with Roketsan and Ukraine's Ukrspetsexport has teamed with Asmas to offer the T-84.

Turkey, as in the case of its attack helicopter project, requested that companies supply export license guarantees for their models competing in tank project. The principal aim of Turkey in seeking such guarantees is to avoid any future interruptions to its major arms projects due to political fluctuations.

The deadline for bidders in the MBT tender to supply guarantees terminated on February 29, and so far only the Ukranian company has supplied Turkey with export assurances, which include third-country sales.

Cakmakoglu earlier confirmed that a contract for the MBTs is intended to be signed in mid-July.

If all goes as planned the first MBTs will be produced in 2004 and the first batch of 250 tanks completed in 2008. The SSM has allocated around $2.5 billion for the initial batch of 250 MBTs. (Turkish News Probe)