Criticism of German arms exports to Turkey

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has strongly criticized German arms exports to Turkey. By exporting weapons of war, Germany is supporting the military adventures of Turkish President Erdogan, which are to be seen as violations of international law: "Regarding the approval of arms exports, the Federal Ministry of Economics is obviously not cooperating sufficiently with the Federal Foreign Office. There's no other explanation for the fact that Turkey is receiving weapons of war from Germany – ignoring an UN arms embargo concerning Libya and, thus, undermining German peace efforts. German arms exports to Turkey are counteracting Germany's foreign policy in other regions of the world," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's Director, in Göttingen on Tuesday. German weapons of war are strengthening Turkey's military apparatus, allowing for wrongful military interventions in Syria. In consequence, ethnic and religious minorities in the region have to fear even more serious human rights violations.

"Germany's commitment to peace in Libya is massively obstructed by Turkish arms exports to the North African country," Delius added. At a Libya summit organized by the German government in Berlin on January 19, Turkey had committed itself to respect the UN arms embargo against Libya. "Since then, ships with weapons from Turkey have repeatedly called at ports in Libya in order to supply military equipment to the allies there," Delius criticized. In March 2020, the BBC published satellite images of three Turkish ships that violated the UN arms embargo against Libya. Also in March, a French naval frigate had stopped a freighter off the Libyan coast. The crew of the ship coming from Turkey is accused of violating the embargo. In a report published in December 2019, UN experts accused Turkey of systematically violating the embargo by supplying tanks, drones, laser weapons, armored vehicles and ammunition.