ANKARA: Turkey has cancelled a multi-billion-dollar deal with China to build its first anti-missile system that had alarmed Ankara’s allies in NATO, a Turkish official said.
The deal was cancelled,” the official from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu´s office told AFP. “One of the main reasons is that we will launch our own national missile project,” added the official.
The news came as Turkey hosted key Western allies including US President Barack Obama but also Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the summit of G20 top economies in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
Turkey entered negotiations in 2013 with the China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) to finalise a contract worth $3.4 billion (3 billion euros).
Turkish government sources said an official announcement was expected next week. A second Turkish official said the issue of technology transfer was one of the major stumbling blocks in negotiations with the Chinese company.
“They refused to give what we demanded,” the official told AFP, without elaborating. “The talks were blocked at some point.”
