Turkey Proposes United States Co-operating In Defense Industry In Iraq

WASHINGTON D.C. - Turkey has proposed the United States that Turkish firms could repair U.S. armored vehicles in Iraq.
Sources told the A.A correspondent on Sunday that National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, who accompanied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to the United States last week, conveyed the proposal to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
When armored vehicles of the U.S. army in Iraq break down, they try to repair them or send them to the United States for repair.
During the meeting with Wolfowitz, the Turkish side proposed the United States to use Turkish company FNSS's factory near Ankara for repair of such vehicles.
The FNSS was a joint establishment of U.S. United Defense Company and Turkish Nurol Firm.
The FNSS has produced nearly 2 thousand armored vehicles for Turkish Army since the beginning of 1990s.
In the meeting, the Turkish side said that repairing armored vehicles in Turkey would be cheaper and easier.
The U.S. side said that it would assess the proposal.
(UK-AÖ) 02.02.2004