Germany: No total arms export ban for Turkey despite Merkel’s promise

Germany’s arms export ban to Turkey only applies to weapons and other military assets that could be used during Ankara’s offensive in northern Syria, the Economics Ministry clarified on Saturday.

The ministry was responding to a request by the socialist Left party following comments by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On Thursday, Merkel warned Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that a 10-day-old incursion by Ankara’s military into Syrian territory to push out a Syrian Kurd militia was “a humanitarian drama with enormous geopolitical consequences.”

Read more: Northern Syria: How stable is the cease-fire?

Merkel said ‘No weapons’

Amid concerns the offensive would displace tens of thousands more Syrians, the chancellor said that “under the current conditions,” the German government would not provide any weapons to Turkey.

Merkel was standing behind an agreement reached by the EU’s 28 foreign ministers on Monday to limit arms sales to Ankara.

Her comments led to speculation about a total German arms ban similar to one levied against Saudi Arabia last November.

However, in its statement on Saturday, the Economics Ministry insisted: “The Federal Government is not issuing new permits for armaments that could be used by Turkey in Syria.”

Read more: Israel stuck in a new Middle East amid Turkey’s Syria offensive

Public ‘deceived’

Reacting to Merkel’s comments, Left party MP Stefan Liebich accused the chancellor of deceiving the public.

Last year, arms sales to Ankara totaled €242.8 million ($271 million), almost a third of the German defense sector’s total production, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency.

In the first eight months of 2019, arms sales rose to €250.4 billion, the highest since 2005.

The number of export permits handed out by Berlin has more than tripled to 182 so far this year, compared to 58 for the whole of last year.

Safe zone protected by truce

Turkey launched its military incursion into northern Syria on October 9 to ensure a 20-mile (30-kilometer) “safe zone” along its border, which includes major Kurdish-held towns and cities.

Ankara seeks to push back the YPG, a Kurdish militia that led an alliance of US-backed fighters to expel the “Islamic State” (IS) armed group from Syria.

Turkey deems the YPG a terrorist group because of its links to Kurdish insurgents in Turkey.

The offensive was widely condemned internationally, which prompted a US-brokered cease-fire that began on Thursday and is to last five days.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  US: Troop pullback

  Over the past years, US troops have supported Kurdish fighters as they battled radical “Islamic State” (IS) militants to take back control of large areas of northern Syria. In what was seen as a surprising turnaround, US President Donald Trump announced in early October that he was withdrawing US troops from the region’s border with Turkey. This pullback left a vacuum for others to act and react.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  Turkey: Anti-Kurdish offensive

  Trump’s troop withdrawal was a de-facto go-ahead for Turkey to launch an offensive into northeast Syria. The region is home to a largely autonomous Kurdish population and Kurdish militants known as the YPG, who are tied to an outlawed Kurdish party in Turkey. Turkey, who has faced a Kurdish insurgency, sees the Syrian Kurds as a threat to its security, hence the military action.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  Kurdish YPG: Fighting Turkish forces

  The YPG was one of the US’ main allies in the fight to drive out IS from north Syria, but since October it has been fighting the Turkish forces that crossed into Syria. The YPG lacks strong air capabilities and defenses, putting it at a decided disadvantage in comparison to the Turkish army.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  SDF: Betrayed by the US

  The YPG is the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab and Christian militias. The SDF, which fought IS, controls northeastern Syria and feels betrayed by the US pullback. It is now fighting Turkish troops and their allies. It has warned that the Turkish offensive could distract from making sure IS fighters do not renew their strength in Syria.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  Syrian government army: Deal made

  The relationship between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops and the SDF is a tricky one that shifts between cooperation, live-and-let-live and skirmishes, depending on the current situation. After Turkey launched its offensive, the Kurds struck a deal with the government that saw Syrian troops mobilized to fight the Turkish forces, allowing them to enter a region they had ceded to the SDF.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  Russia: Stepping up, stepping in

  Russia has consistently backed the government of Syrian President Assad (L, with Putin in 2018) and assisted its forces. After US troops pulled out of the Kurdish areas, Russia moved its troops in to act as a buffer for Syrian government forces advancing towards the Turkish army. Moscow wants Syria to remain united and has accused the US of creating parallel structures in the Kurdish region.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  SNA: Turkey’s Syrian allies

  Turkey also has allies among Syrian fighters. The Syrian National Army (SNA), also known as the Free Syrian Army, is a Syrian rebel group that has fought against the SDF and Assad’s government. Backed by Turkey, SNA fighters took part in previous Turkish offensives against Kurdish militias inside Syria. Currently, thousands of SNA fighters are fighting the YPG alongside Turkish forces.

• Who are the major players in northern Syria?

  IS: A renewed role?

  One possible future actor is IS. While it was essentially defeated in March 2019, tens of thousands of its fighters and their families remain in prisons or guarded camps in the Kurdish area of the country. Nearly a thousand alone have already escaped from a camp that was caught in the fighting between Kurdish militias and Turkish forces. Should the situation grow more unstable, IS could regroup.

  Author: Uta Steinwehr, Cristina Burack

mm/jlw (AFP, dpa)

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