Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey, beset by civil and ethnic unrest, has ordered riot control vehicles from a company close to President Recep Erdogan.

Katmerciler Ekipman said it was awarded a contract to supply 65 anti-riot platforms to the Turkish police. Katmerciler identified the vehicle as Toma, which contains a water cannon.

“Our company won the tender by giving the lowest price at 13.6 million euro,” Katmerciler said on Oct. 28. “The deal has been signed with the Turkish authorities.”

Five companies competed for the project to supply Turkish police with riot control vehicles. The parliamentary opposition has charged that Erdogan favored Katmerciler, owned by a parliamentarian from the ruling Justice and Development Party, over its rivals.

“Did the government reject a transparent tender process and instead secretly award the contract to Katmerciler?” Sezgin Tannikulu, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Oct. 26.

Katmerciler, which also reported sales to Brazil and Libya, has already supplied 30 Toma vehicles to Turkey’s police and security forces. In October, 2014, the company’s stock price soared by more than 20 percent after Davutoglu pledged to purchase 10 Tomas for every one demolished in clashes with anti-government protesters.

  Turkey orders anti-riot vehicles from pro-Erdogan defense contractor, WorldTribune.com