Home Politics Germany and France suspend arms exports to Turkey due to raid

Germany and France suspend arms exports to Turkey due to raid

Germany and France sell arms to Turkey for millions of euros every year. The Netherlands has also put a stop to arms exports. France and Germany stop supplying weapons to Turkey due to the raid on northern Syria. Saturday afternoon, Bild am Sonntag published an interview in which German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that export licenses would no longer be issued for “all weapons that can be used by Turkey in Syria”. Later in the day, the French Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs announced the same measure.

Turkey is one of Germany’s most important customers in the field of weapons. Last year, Germany sold 242.8 million euros in arms to Turkey, almost a third of the country’s full arms exports. According to Libération, France has sold more than 461 million euros worth of weapons to Turkey since 2009.

On Friday, Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge announced that he would suspend Dutch arms exports to Turkey for as long as the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria lasts. However, the Netherlands is a considerably smaller player. Last year, Turkey bought 29 million euros in weapons from the Netherlands.

Sunday evening local time, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria. In the area, the US supported the Syrian-Kurdish militia YPG in the fight against terrorist group Islamic State. With the withdrawal of American troops, the way was cleared for a Turkish invasion.

Turkish President Erdogan wants to push back the YPG with his “Operation Peace Source”. This group affiliated with the PKK is regarded by Turkey as a terrorist organization. Erdogan also wants to create a “safe zone” in which two million Syrian refugees must be able to return to Turkey. However, the international community fears adverse consequences for the predominantly Kurdish population of the area. According to the UN, tens of thousands of residents of the area have already fled their homes.


About the author: Rick Culpepper

Rick Culpepper is of those journalists who dig the topic to the very bottom. He is often late with the delivery of the piece, but always does it perfectly. In his spare time, he collects data for one of the most high-profile investigations of corruption in the EU.

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