ANKARA, Turkey — More than 10,000 Turkish security personnel, civilians and Kurdish rebels, mostly militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have lost their lives since clashes resumed in July 2015 after a three-year ceasefire, forcing Ankara to spend more on various types of armored vehicles.
The military regularly buys scores of armored vehicles as part of its anti-terror campaign. Most recently the police force has joined the army by preparing a sizable shopping list.
Speaking at a parliamentary panel, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said his ministry would acquire a total of 2,684 vehicles for anti-terror fight before the end of this year. Of those, 231 will be armored vehicles.
Soylu said that in 2017 the Interior Ministry will buy 440 tactical armored vehicles in addition to 50 anti-riot vehicles. The Gendarmerie, armed public security forces, in 2017 will buy 200 armored vehicles and 100 mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles (the Kirpis).
He said the police force also would be augmented with an unspecified number of drones, manned reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters.
Nearly 40,000 people have died in clashes between the Turkish military and the PKK since violence broke out in 1984. Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
An Interior Ministry official said the minister's armored vehicles shopping list for 2017 would "most likely" grow, as clashes will likely intensify after next spring.
Procurement officials say there is big demand, both from the military and the police, for "almost all types of armored vehicles."
"We are still far from a saturation point," he said.
Three armored vehicles manufacturers control Turkey's market: FNSS, a Turkish subsidiary of BAE; Otokar; and BMC. A fourth producer, Katmerciler, a specialist in anti-riot water cannons and other trucks, recently joined the competition by launching new armored vehicles.
Burak Ege Bekdil was the Turkey correspondent for Defense News.
