While weapons trade between Germany and Turkey decreased compared to previous years, it has come to light that the Merkel government made 5 weapons deals worth a total of half a million Euros between March 14 when they took office and the end of June.
The Finance Ministry has responded to the written inquiry submitted by Die Linke to the Federal Parliament regarding weapons trade with Turkey and Saudi Arabia and gave detailed information on weapons deals approved by the Christian Democrats/Social Democrats government between March 14 when they took office and June 30.
According to the response, 5 weapons trade deals worth a total of 418.279 Euros with NATO member Turkey were approved between these dates, as opposed to 9.7 million Euros worth of weapons deals between January 1-March 13, 2018. The numerous deals coincided with the Turkish state’s attacks and invasion attempt against Afrin launched by late January.
WEAPONS TRADE CONTINUES AT LOWER VOLUME
Last year, the Berlin administration had made 138 weapons deals worth a total of 34 million Euros with the Ankara regime. In 2016, the amount was 83.9 million Euros. These pieces of information officially announced by the Finance Ministry shows that the weapons deals Germany made with the Erdoğan government have drastically reduced compared to recent years.
Some observers say this is due to the economic crisis in Turkey that has been deepening for several months now, but on the other hand, the Turkish army starting to produce its own weapons through licensing deals Germany’s weapons industry made with the Ankara regime has also been a factor in the decreasing trade.
Die Linke harshly criticized the fact that weapons deals are still being made with the Turkish state in the written inquiry they submitted. One of the authors of the inquiry, MP Stefan Liebich said the signing of new weapons deals with Ankara is “scandalous”, and demanded a weapons embargo against Turkey starting immediately.
NO NEW DEALS WITH COUNTRIES THAT ATTACKED YEMEN
Similar licensing deals have also been given to Saudi Arabia, which has significantly decreased the weapons deals Germany signed with the country. Between March 14 and June 30, there has been only one weapons deal worth 28.000 Euros between Germany and Saudi Arabia, whereas in the first 10 weeks of the year the total worth of the deals was 161 million Euros.
Meanwhile, the new Merkel government has never made any deals with the member countries of the Saudi-led coalition that carries out attacks against Yemen, most prominent of which are Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco and the UAE. Germany had sold weapons worth a total of 1.3 billion Euros from 2015 onwards to 8 countries that carried out the air strikes against Yemen.
