In jeopardy: Turkey says has obtained six-month extension from Pakistan on helicopter deal

People look at a Turkish attack helicopter “T129 ATAK” during the opening day of the 13th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) in Istanbul on May 9, 2017. (AFP/File)

• Delivery date of 30 T129 Atak helicopters pushed back over Pentagon refusal to issue export licenses for made-in-US engines and parts
• The US last year imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey over Ankara’s acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems

ISLAMABAD: Tur­key’s top procurement official, Ismail Demir, said this week the country had received a six-month extension from Pakistan on a helicopter deal that is in jeopardy over the Pentagon’s refusal to issue export licenses for engines and other parts made in the United States.
In July 2018, Pakistan signed a $1.5 billion deal with Turkey for 30 Turkish-made T129 Atak helicopters.
The delivery date for the helicopters has been pushed back repeatedly because the manufacturer, the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), must first secure US export licenses.
The United States last year imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey over Ankara’s acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems, further complicating already strained ties between the two NATO allies.
“We have obtained a six-month extension from Pakistan,” Turkey’s top procurement official, Ismail Demir, told reporters, as quoted in US publication Defense News.
Another senior procurement official in Turkey told Defense News the extension did not imply the deal would ultimately work out.
“This is not a technological or commercial issue,” he said. “It is purely political, and as long as the reasons for the US blockade remain in effect ... what looks like a Turkish-Pakistani deal will be a victim of a Turkish-US dispute.”
A Turkish aerospace official said US hesitancy to issue export licenses was not the only hiccup in the deal. 
“There are other components the Americans can refuse to issue export licenses for,” he said. “We have the impression that the T129 deal would not go through without a political go-ahead from Washington.”
In January 2020, Pakistan gave the first, one-year extension to TAI for delivering the helicopters. With the sale in jeopardy, the Turkish government tasked Tusas Engine Industries, TAI’s sister company, to develop an indigenous engine for the T129.
“Pakistan has agreed to give us another year [to resolve the problem]. We hope we will be able to develop our indigenous engine soon to power the T129,” Demir told reporters at the time. “After one year, Pakistan may be satisfied with the level of progress in our engine program, or the US may grant us the export license.”
Senior US officials said in a call with reporters in December last year that Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s and its refusal to reverse its decision, despite repeated pleas from Washington, left the United States with no other choice but to impose sanctions.
The sanctions target Turkey’s top defense procurement and development body Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), its chairman Ismail Demir and three other employees.
The measures, which received a bipartisan welcome from the US Congress, were announced under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) — the first time the act has been used against a fellow member of the NATO alliance.
Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 ground-to-air defenses in mid-2019 and says they pose no threat to NATO allies. But Washington has long threatened sanctions and last year removed Turkey from an F-35 jet program.
“The United States made clear to Turkey at the highest levels and on numerous occasions that its purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of US military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector,” US. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.
Turkey says it has repeatedly proposed forming a joint working group with the United States and NATO to resolve the issue but its offers have not been fully utilized. It has called the US sanctions a “grave mistake” and urged Washington to revise its “unjust decision.” 
The sanctions block joint projects or technology transfers between US companies and Turkish firms linked to SSB. They also impose restrictions on loans and credits by US financial institutions to SSB totalling more than $10 million, while imposing asset freezes and visa restrictions on the SSB president and three other employees.