Turkey to Buy Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems Details From China

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in China on an official visit. He will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders will discuss the delivery of Chinese-produced ABM systems components to Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the purchase of components for the Turkish anti-ballistic missile shield from China during his visit to the East, he told journalists before leaving to Beijing.

On Tuesday, Erdogan arrived in China on an official visit which will last until July 30.

"The People’s Republic of China has been the country that placed the most feasible bid for ballistic missiles," Erdogan was quoted as saying by the newspaper Hurriyet.

"Then came some developments and some disruptions were faced on these developments. In this visit, we will reconsider these issues," he added.

Turkey announced the $4 billion bid for China’s ABM system in 2009. In September 2013, the order was granted to Chinese manufacturer CPMIEC for $3.4 billion.

Besides the Chinese company, US consortium Raytheon & Lockheed Martin, French-Italian conglomerate Eurosam and Russian Rosoboronexport also took part in the bidding.

Unlike its competitors, the Chinese company said it would be possible to produce some missile systems in Turkey as well as to hand over its technologies to Ankara. However, the two sides could not agree on the Turkish involvement into the process. In addition, after CPMIEC was announced the winner, NATO allies put pressure on Turkey. The final results of the tender have not been announced yet.