Turkey accuses US and Germany of undercover arms embargo

The Turkish Minister of Defence, Nurettin Canikli has suggested that the US and Germany are operating an undercover arms embargo against Turkey, according to reports in Defense News. The comments were made during an event organised for Turkish Veterans Day on 21 September. He accused US and German companies of ‘postponing’ or ‘refusing’ the delivery of spare military parts to Turkey.

Washington, DC and Ankara clashed over the US’s recent arming of the Syrian Kurds as part of the fight against ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, which was against the wishes of Turkey. President Trump also bowed to pressure from Congress to withhold approval for the $1.2m sale of US semi-automatic handguns to Turkish President Erdogan’s security guards, following violent altercations between Erdogan’s guards and peaceful protestors in Washington, DC in May.

Relations between NATO allies and major trading partners Germany and Turkey have soured since President Erdogan initiated a security crackdown after last year’s failed coup, triggering human rights concerns. In March, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that Berlin has rejected more than ten applications for arms exports to Turkey since 2016, compared to only eight between 2010 and 2015. The newspaper cited a letter from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, written in response to questions from left-wing MP Jan van Aken, which reportedly said: ‘The importance of observing human rights will be particularly important in respect to arms export approvals.’