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The MHP leader has not specified what changes he has in mind, but Dogan wrote that “one would think that the Erdogan ally is eyeing regulations that prevent deputies from switching political parties or increasing the current deputy requirement of 20 for the formation of a parliamentary group”.
He added: “It is likely that Erdogan gave the order to Bahceli to call for changes to election laws, as it would be in the Turkish president’s benefit to tweak the system given the apparent fall in support.”
Separately, a ​crackdown on pro-Kurdish HDP’s municipalities ​continues​. The HDP won a total of 65 municipalities in the March 2019 elections. Trustees, generally city governors, were appointed in 45 of total 65 while the HDP currently has 12 municipalities with 8 mayors currently under detention.
2.6​ ​Turkey ‘to make key components for F-35 fighter until 2022 despite being kicked out of manufacturing programme’
Turkey will continue to make key components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) until at least 2022 despite having been officially kicked out of the manufacturing programme, according to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report ​cited​ by International Policy Digest.
Turkish suppliers were supposed to be excluded from the programme after Ankara in June last year went ahead and purchased advanced S-400 missile defence systems from Russia despite the US and Nato making it clear that the hardware was seen as a security threat to the performance data of the JSF.
The publication’s article noted: “While both the JSF and even the GAO might seem optimistic about the degree to which Turkish-supplied parts can be replaced, consider this: buried in page 30 of the [GAO] report is a brief reference to the fact that many of these Turkish suppliers will continue to produce parts through 2022. As the GAO states: ‘Turkish suppliers will provide parts through the end of lot 14 deliveries (scheduled to take place through 2022), in part, to avoid disruptions to aircraft deliveries and additional cost growth from standing up new suppliers.’
“That is to say, despite taking the unprecedented step of leveling sanctions against a NATO ally, the United States will essentially continue to rely on goodwill for the next few years. Not to mention, of course, the nearly 50 nuclear bombs housed by the U.S. at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, roughly 250 miles from the Syrian border.”
A report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has outlined how Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 manufacturing programme has complicated the already troubled production chain for the Joint Strike Fighter and cost around half a billion dollars.
Washington formally expelled Turkey from the F-35 programme in July last year after the Nato member acquired S-400 advanced missile defence systems from Russia, despite warnings from the Pentagon that the S-400s could gather performance data on the F-35’s capabilities and weaknesses that could conceivably make its way to the Kremlin.
“Parts shortages increased significantly in 2019 and Turkey’s suspension from the program will likely further complicate existing supply chain challenges,” read the report, released by the congressional watchdog office.
The report said that the program has by now found new suppliers for most of the 1,005 individual F-35 parts Turkish manufacturers were producing.
17​ TURKEY Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com