US: dual use' manufacturers in Turkey under close surveillance

The US has been closely monitoring 54 Turkish companies that produce materials which could potentially be used in Iran's nuclear program and the Turkish government has banned these companies from trading with Iran upon a request from the US administration, a reliable source who insisted on remaining anonymous has told Today's Zaman.

US diplomatic cables published earlier by WikiLeaks made it clear that the operations of Turkish companies Durmazlar, Baykal and Ermaksan were being closely followed by the US. The three companies were listed among companies whose loss or attack by terrorists could have a critical impact on US security.

Responding to questions by Today's Zaman on the issue, Trade and Industry Minister Nihat Erg n didn't want to go into details, but said: We are not exporting products that are needed for Iran's nuclear program. Turkey has fulfilled the requirements of UN sanctions imposed on Iran so far. There is a list that lists which products are banned from being exported to Iran. Many of these products are those which can be used as part of Iran's nuclear program. Dual use technological equipment and aluminum are included in this list. The Turkish Foreign Trade Undersecretariat also has this list.

Today's Zaman has learned that in 2007 the US administration sent a list to Turkey of the materials it does not want to be exported to Iran. Many of the materials listed can be used in missile production and other nuclear purposes. Although a regulation on the export of nuclear dual-use items was published in the Official Gazette in 2007, the list of dual-use items was updated after talks with the US administration in June 2010.

In fact, on the same day the updated list was published in the Official Gazette, former Foreign Trade Minister and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Mersin deputy K r at T zmen said in a statement that Turkish companies were affected by the sanctions imposed on Iran.

Noting that Turkey s trade with Iran stood at around $1 billion in 2002, T zmen said this figure rose to $10 billion in 2010, complaining that the sanctions have cost Turkish companies nearly $1 billion.

What s common to all three
A close look at the products of the three firms offers an explanation as to why the US is keeping tabs on these companies. Ermaksan is one of the world s leading sheet metal working machine manufacturers. It is a supplier for such high-profile companies as Boeing.

The Baykal company manufactures press brakes for the bending of metal. The steel frame of the One World Trade Center being constructed on the spot of the World Trade Center that collapsed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack was also produced by this company.

Durmazlar Machinery manufactures products for airlines and electronic industries. This company was a contractor for the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada. Chalk River is the world s number one producer of isotopes. Another important point about Durmazlar is that it does business in Iran s Strait of Hormuz.

54 companies under surveillance
Our source says 54 Turkish companies in all are being monitored by the watchful eye of the US administration, which is uneasy about the potential use of their products in Iran s nuclear program. Two of these companies are in Ankara, 16 in stanbul and the reset scattered across the country, including the provinces of Kocaeli, zmir and Gaziantep.

Only three of the companies the US is watching were mentioned in the cable released by WikiLeaks. These three companies make products that can also be used in the defense industry. But the US is also watching companies that produce steel, iron, aluminum and a number of others that are active in the mining industry. According to our source, a list of the countries where these firms export products to has been forwarded to the US Department of Defense.

The US also monitors the production of products that can be used in subsidiary industries for nuclear reactors. A senior foreign trade official says companies that produce coolers, heaters, steel sheets, pipes, aluminum products, compressors, magnets and control valves are also under surveillance. Companies in mining that are of interest to the US are producers of aluminum, beryllium, bismuth, boron, calcium, titanium, magnesium, tungsten zirconium, chlorine trifluoride and lithium.