The Kazakh Defense Ministry on Wednesday refuted reports that it had signed a contract on the purchase of Turkey's Arma armored fighting vehicles for about 2 trillion tenge ($4.5 billion)
ASTANA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) The Kazakh Defense Ministry on Wednesday refuted reports that it had signed a contract on the purchase of Turkey's Arma armored fighting vehicles for about 2 trillion tenge ($4.5 billion).
On Tuesday, Kazakh media reported that the country's government had decided to buy over 800 Armas from Turkey for its military.
"The information disseminated on social media about the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Turkish company Otokar on the purchase of armored vehicles for the sum of about 2 trillion tenge is not true," the ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.
There are currently no agreements on the delivery of Turkish military vehicles to Kazakhstan, the ministry added.
"Otokar is just one of the manufacturers of armored vehicles, the models of which are generally considered in accordance with the procedure established by the rules of entry into service. The Ministry of Defense informed about this earlier. At the same time, other foreign models of vehicles are also being considered," the statement read.
The ministry added that the Otokar 8x8 model is undergoing pilot tests along with a domestic armored vehicle model, the results of which will determine which one meets the technical requirements.
Arma is a 6x6 and 8x8 amphibious wheeled armored combat vehicle designed by the Otokar company in 2010. To date, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are the only countries using the vehicle.
