ANKARA, Nov 18 (AFP) - German Defense Minister Peter Struck on Thursday said he favors the sale of German Leopard II tanks to Turkey, just five years after his country rejected a similar request by Ankara on grounds that the weapons could be used against civilians in eastern Turkey.
"If Turkey makes a request (to purchase the tanks), as minister of defense, I would give a favorable opinion to the (German) chancellor and the foreign minister," Struck said.
He told a joint press conference here with his Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gonul that Turkey, a NATO member and a candidate for membership in the European Union, had undergone major changes since the initial German refusal.
"An entirely different process has been under way in Turkey over the past five years," Struck said, referring to the slew of reforms Ankara has adopted over the past few years to bring its legislation up to the standards of the EU, which it hopes to join as a full member.
Germany had cancelled a deal to sell weapons, including tanks, to Ankara five years ago, saying it feared the Turkish army could use them against civilians in its 15-year war against Kurdish rebels in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
The conflict, described by military officials as a "low-intensity civil war," claimed more than 30,000 lives before it ended with the 1999 arrest in Kenya of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party, better known as the PKK, last summer called off a unilateral truce it had proclaimed after his arrest.
Fighting has resumed since in the area, but at a much lower scale than before.
Struck stressed, however, that the aim of his two-day visit was "not to sell used tanks to Turkey," which already has about 400 earlier generation Leopard I tanks.
"If there is a request, we will look at it," he said.
Gonul said what Turkey really wants is to build its own "Turkish-type" tanks as part of efforts to modernize its army, the second largest in NATO after that of the United States.
"But this will take time," he acknowledged, "and we are studying interim solutions."
The German army, also in the midst of a modernization process, plans to reduce by 350 the number of its Leopard II tanks, which currently stands at 850.
Should it decide to buy the Leopard IIs, Turkey, to avoid the embarassment of the rejection it suffered five years ago, will make its official request only after the German government guarantees approval of the deal, German and Turkish sources said.
They said the request could come before the end of the year.
Turkish military officials have already travelled to Germany to inspect German stocks, and technical talks are under way, the sources said.
One potential hitch, they said, is that Turkey wants the Leopard IIs delivered at a "symbolic" price and wants their upgrading and maintenance to be done in Turkey; Germany is not opposed to selling at a bargain price, but wants the upgrading to be done by German firms, they said.
Citing budgetary and strategic reasons, Turkey this year scrapped an international 1997 tender for a joint venture with foreign partners to produce to produce 1,000 new tanks for its army.
Struck told the press conference that he also discussed the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans during his talks here with Turkish officials, including Gonul and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
11/18/2004 12:27 GMT - AFP