US 'Seriously Concerned' About Turkey's Chinese Missile Choice

The United States is “seriously concerned” about NATO ally Turkey’s controversial decision to select a Chinese company for its long-range air and missile defense system.
Ankara’s announcement last month that it was launching discussions with the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMIEC) for the deal, according to media reports — irritated Turkey’s allies in NATO, particularly the United States.
CPMIEC, which makes the HQ-9 missile system, beat out competition from a US partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, Russia’s Rosoboronexport, and Italian-French consortium Eurosam.
The Chinese company has been hit by a series of US sanctions over the past decade, accused of selling arms and missile technology to Iran and Pakistan.
NATO said missile systems within the transatlantic military alliance must be compatible with each other.
Turkey launched the tender for 12 missile batteries in 2009. It had previously defended the choice of CPMIEC saying it had offered the best price.
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