Turkey to increase arms spending in 2011

Turkey is scheduled to spend approximately $4.5 billion on arms procurement in 2011, up about 10 percent annually, while most European countries are slashing defense budgets, a senior procurement official said on the weekend.

"This year we have a major payments schedule for ongoing and starting programs," said the official on condition of anonymity.

"An overall procurement spending of $4.5 billion is a reasonable figure for the year."

Last year, Turkey spent slightly more than $4 billion on procurement.

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