Aselsan candidate to add to Turkish border security

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

A top executive says surveillance systems is a core businesse of the company.

Aselsan, a local defense and civil industry firm, is ready to undertake responsibility for Turkey’s border security with newly developed mobile and stationary systems, according to Cengiz Ergeneman, the general manager.

“Surveillance, motion detection and target spotting are our core issues. Thus, we are capable of undertaking this if we are appointed,” Ergeneman said in interview with Anatolia news agency published yesterday.

Aselsan’s telecommunication devices are also popular and used in a wide range of countries from South America to the Pacific, he added. The company has sold nearly 40,000 radios to the U.S. alone, he said.

No sell-off to Israelis
Separately, there are no plans on the agenda to sell Aselsan to Israel, Ergeneman said, denying some media claims on the issue from last few months.

There is in fact no sell-off plan regarding the company, Ergeneman said. “No one is thinking about such a thing, particularly not to Israel.”

The Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TAFF) owns a nearly 85 percent stake in Aselsan while the remaining 15.3 percent is traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB). Ergeneman said the stake of foreigners in the free-floating shares had increased to about 45 percent from 20 to 25 percent. “And most of the [new buyers] are pension funds from the U.S. and Europe. Thus, there is nothing related with Israel. The source of such incorrect stories is the rise of shares [held by] foreigners.”

The general manager also commented on a recent row between Aselsan and Israel. Israel canceled the exports authorizations of its defense companies ELOP and ELTA to sell surveillance equipment, including electro-optic devices that would be used on RF-4E planes. These systems are used to receive and transfer high-resolution images shot from long distances.

“These two companies could not meet their duties because the Israeli government canceled their exports licenses,” Ergeneman said. “In coordination with the Undersecretariat of Defense, Aselsan submitted the notification of termination to ELOP and ELTA. EO/IR and SAR/GMTI pods will be bought from abroad since the demand is urgent. If an authentic product is demanded, Aselsan holds the required infrastructure and experienced manpower.”