Turkish paper "Sunday's Zaman" reports that leading international corporations are bidding in a tender to clear mines along the 877-kilometer Turkish Syrian border. Some of the bidders are Israeli companies. Other Turkish media reports that the tender is worth more than $500 million.
"Sunday's Zaman" adds that Turkey's Minister of Finance Mehmet Simsek declined to disclose the names of the bidders, but the paper has learned that there are 14 companies. The paper said that the minister's reticence was because the bidders include seven companies with ties to Israel, and three other companies indirect Israeli business ties.
Turkey's Parliament is due to debate a bill on the mine clearing, which includes allocating the cleared land to the winning company for agricultural use for 44 years. This has angered Turkey's National Movement Party (MHP), and called for the bill to be suspended.
According to "Sunday's Zaman", Syria is also an issue, because it does not want Israeli companies along its northern border and "does not welcome the idea of awarding the mine clearing tender to Israeli companies."
"Sunday's Zaman" notes that Israeli companies have offered very competitive prices in the tender. "If the tender is performed according to the Public Procurement Law, it is hardly possible for any company other than the Israeli companies to win. Indeed, Israeli companies are specialized both in demining and in agriculture," says the paper.
"Sunday's Zaman" says that the tender could a major item during Turkish President Abdullah Gul's official visit to Israel and Syria, and that the government decided to postpone the mine clearing bill until after the visit.
"Sunday's Zaman" quotes MHP deputy Prof. Mehmet Gunal as saying, "We suggest that agricultural use of such a big and strategic stretch of land should not be merged with the mine clearing tender. If such merging is made, we see that Israeli companies are being described. It would be a big thing for the Turkish-Syrian border to be controlled by Israel for a period of 44 years. We have identified that out of the 14 applicants, seven have ties with Israel. Three more have indirect connections with Israel. If demining is merged with agriculture, there is no other company that can do this besides the Israeli companies."
According to "Sunday's Zaman", the Israeli bidders in the tender are Quadro Ltd., Maavarim Civil Engineering Ltd., International Explosive Ordnance Disposal Engineering Ltd. (IEOD), and a UK-Israeli firm, Red Wings Ltd. The other bidders are British firms Armtrac Ltd., Bactec International Ltd., Aardvark Clear Mine Ltd., Specialist Gurkha Inc., and MineTech International; French firm Geomines SAS; Croatian firm Doging; Ukrainian firms RYBD; a Ukraine-Danish consortium comprising Scandinavian Demining Group, Ukrabarone Exp., and Damacon Company; and Germany's Reinmetall.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2009
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