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In response to a question from Deutsche Welle, Green Party spokeswoman Katia Coyle said that “arms exports to Turkey, especially the delivery of submarines commissioned from ThyssenKrupp, should be the EU’s external borders in the eastern Mediterranean.”
Even more acute is the statement by Sevim Dagdelen, representative of the left in foreign policy, armaments and disarmament, who declared from Cyprus where he is:
“Anyone who speaks so strongly in solidarity with EU countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, cannot continue to sell arms to Turkey, as it has done in recent years.” The blockade of Chancellor Merkel and the Foreign Minister Foreign Maas on a European arms embargo is an embarrassment to German foreign policy and amounts to complicity in Erdogan’s aggression, “he said. It endangers peace and security in Europe.”
The left demands an immediate end to arms exports and financial aid to Turkey, but also an end to the “irresponsible prospect” of expanding the customs union and more trade facilities in Ankara.
The position of the German government
Previously, when asked by DW about the official position of the German government, the German Foreign Ministry had responded indirectly but clearly at first to the Greek request that Europe stop selling arms to Turkey, noting, among other things, that “in recent years the German government” has not granted any new approval for exports of key military equipment that Turkey could use in regional military operations. “
From a reading of the above but also of the facts, the German type 214 submarines are excluded from the partial arms embargo imposed by Berlin in October 2019 following the Turkish invasion of Syria. On the one hand because the submarines are subject to an old agreement (2009) and, on the other hand, because they are related to the allied obligations of Germany in joint European projects and multinational construction processes.
Bottom line: As of late 2019, the German government now approves very few new arms exports to Turkey. However, the fulfillment of the old orders, and especially that related to the submarines, continues normally.
Source: DW: Costas Symeonidis
