Turkiye's Finance Ministry has launched an investigation into a tank modernization contract awarded to an Israeli firm. The probe is looking into technical failures in some of the tanks delivered by the company.

The contract was worth 687-and-a-half million dollars for the modernization of 170 M-60 tanks.

Although the Turkish government claims it made its payments regularly to Israel Military Industries, the company is accused of failing to finish the project by the final deadline last October.

Some 32 out of the 100 tanks delivered reportedly had problems with their reverse gears, and one-third of the tanks also had problems in their periscopes.

Turkish officials also say the deadline for the delivery of the tanks had been changed several times, and that the company has recently delivered only 100 out of the 170 modernized tanks it ordered.

Ebrunews/Ankara