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Turkey Goes Ballistic for China

The whole episode has become an oxymoron of noisy speechlessness.
The logo of China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) is seen at its headquarters in Beijing September 27, 2013. NATO member Turkey has chosen a Chinese defence firm that has been sanctioned by Washington to co-produce a $4 billion long-range air and missile defence system, rejecting rival bids from Russian, U.S. and European firms. The Turkish defence minister announced the decision to award the contract to China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) in a statement on Thursday

It has been two weeks since Turkey announced its preference for a Chinese-made long-range air and missile defense system.

In a country like Turkey, where the daily agenda changes several times a day, this is ample time for the missile issue to drop from the agenda and be slowly forgotten. But it doesn’t appear as if the United States and NATO are likely to forget it. At the moment, it is not clear if the bill will be made out to Turkey and if so, to whom. But if Turkey is a country that will remain in the Western collective security system, it is obvious that the option of jointly producing a missile system with China is not very much in the cards.

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