MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) - Turkish authorities have extended the tender for air defense systems, in which Russia is offering the Antei 2500 anti-aircraft missile system, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladimir Ivanovsky said in an interview with Interfax.
"The Defense Industry Executive Committee decided to extend the tender at a meeting chaired by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in early January 2013," he said.
"The participation of Russia's Antei 2500 anti-aircraft missile system in the Turkish Defense Ministry's Defense Industry Executive Committee is an important area of military-technical cooperation," the diplomat said. "Bearing in mind the new strategy of the Turkish Defense Ministry - a shift from the procurement of armaments and military hardware to the development of the domestic defense industry - Russia is ready to build up military-technical cooperation in the prospective format, which will bring Russian-Turkish relations to a totally new level of strategic partnership."
Asked to give an example of this cooperation, Ivanovsky said, "Relevant Russian entities are engaged in a number of projects rendering technical support to the biggest defense plants of Turkey - Aselsan, Roketsan, TAI-TUSAS and others. These projects are a part of national military development programs implemented in the interests of the armed forces of Turkey and third countries."