ASSAN, one of Turkey’s top private-sector ammunition producers and an exporter to more than 60 countries, is under scrutiny following allegations of illegal staffing, supply delays, fraud, and improper transfer of state-developed defense technologies, according to Cumhuriyet daily.
On Aug. 5, Turkey-based Clash Report –an online channel thought to be associated with the government– cited Ukrainian media as saying the state defense company Spetsteknoeksport had signed a $10.8 million contract with ASSAN but never received the products.
Baykar also has a production partnership and export relationship with Ukraine. The news site Gündeme Dair Herşey (Everything About Current Affairs – GDH), which has published numerous positive news stories about Baykar’s owner Selçuk Bayraktar and featured him in three of the first ten videos posted on its YouTube channel, took the issue a step further by targeting ASSAN general manager, Gürcan Okumuş.
Recalling that Okumuş was previously the General Manager of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK) Defense Industry Research and Development Institute (SAGE), GDH said that “after being removed from his position at SAGE, he began working as General Manager at ASSAN, a total of 18 expert researchers who held critical positions at SAGE left their jobs for various reasons and began working at ASSAN and its subsidiary, Astech Defense,” the website GDH reported.
GDH said that, normally, when a transfer is made from a government body like TÜBİTAK approval must be obtained, but it was not. “Shortly after these expert researchers joined Astech Defense, similar versions of the smart UAV munitions and semi-active laser seeker heads that TÜBİTAK SAGE had been developing for years suddenly appeared at ASSAN. Legal experts evaluating the matter have noted that strategic technologies developed within the state were improperly transferred to the company under the guise of industrial espionage,” GDH said.
Responding to the allegations, ASSAN said on Aug. 8: “It appears that these false reports are being disseminated in a coordinated manner through specific channels,” and announced that it would take legal action.
