Former factory head gets 13 years for exploiting state secrets

ANKARA

A Turkish state weapons factory head was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison on Dec. 29 for trying to sell Turkish weapons designs to a U.S. company, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Mustafa Tanrıverdi, who headed a small arms weapon factory for Turkey’s state Machinery and Chemical Industry Institution (MKE), was found guilty of trying to sell design and production plans for an MP-5 sub-machine gun for $70,000 and a MPT-76 national infantry rifle for $300,000 to an official working for a U.S. firm.        

Ankara’s 4th Criminal Court of First Instance handed down a prison sentence of 12 years and eight months following Tanrıverdi’s arrest in April over charges of exploiting state secrets and disloyalty to state services. 

Tanrıverdi was arrested on April 7 in Ankara after allegedly trying to sell weapon designs to a U.S. company.    
The MPT-76, using the Turkish acronym for “national infantry rifle,” is designed and produced by the government-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation or MKEK.        

The MPT-76 is composed of around 200 parts, all of which are currently produced. The Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifles in the military are, however, expected to be replaced.

The gun has a shooting range of 400 meters, weighs 4.3 kilograms and extends 88 centimeters in length. It also has a 7.62-millimeter caliber that was designed for all altitude, weather and terrain conditions.

The first batches of the MPT-76 were delivered to the army in 2014. The factory is also expected to deliver a total of 500 MPT-76 rifles to the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016.

The MPT-76 has also seen demand from countries including the United States, Chile and Azerbaijan.

The rifle passed 42 NATO tests, becoming the first rifle to pass the test without a mistake.