Monday

4th Dec 2023

EU countries to halt arms sales to Turkey

  • Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan: EU relations have sunk to new lows in past three years (Photo: Flickr)

EU states have agreed to stop arms sales to Turkey over its invasion of Syria.

They also agreed to impose visa bans and asset freezes over its gas drilling in Cypriot waters, marking a nadir in relations with their Nato ally.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

EU countries "commit to strong national positions" on Turkey arms sales based on rules that forbid exports that harm "regional stability", they said after a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday (14 October).

"Restrictive measures targeting [Turkish] natural and legal persons responsible for or involved in the illegal [gas] drilling activity" would also go ahead "swiftly", they said.

The wording on the "national" arms ban made it different to existing EU-level arms embargoes on countries such as China and Russia.

It was different because the EU did not want to "enter into a zone of conflict with Turkey" and because an EU-level ban might have created legal complications for Turkey's fellow Nato members, EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini, said.

But it was still "their [EU states'] national legal responsibility to do it," she added.

"We do not wish to support this war and do not want to make arms available," German foreign minister Heiko Maas said in Luxembourg the same day.

"In the next few hours, Italy too will sign a ban on the export of arms to Turkey," Italian foreign minister Luigi di Maio added.

All 28 EU states "have unanimously decided to 'condemn' - that is the verb, not concern, not worry - but to 'condemn' in strong terms what in the end is a military attack," the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Borrell, who is due to take over from Mogherini in her EU post in November, also told the Associated Press news agency in an interview.

European states issued licences for €2.8bn of arms sales to Turkey in 2017, EU records show.

Spain led the way with almost a billion euros of licences for aircraft equipment in 2017. France issued permits worth €736m for mostly military vehicles and electronics. The UK was ready to sell €660m of "miscellaneous equipment" and Italy issued licences for €266m of mainly small arms and ammunition.

But for its part, Turkey mocked the decision.

'Joke'

The arms ban was a "joke" because "we have enough of an industrial base to substitute them with our much better systems", Turkey's envoy to the UN in Geneva, Sadik Arslan, told press on Monday.

EU leaders were acting on the basis of "serious disinformation pressure", Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara the same day.

"We are a Nato ally. Please note that these countries are all Nato countries," he added.

The EU decision came six days after Turkey invaded northern Syria, a stronghold of Kurdish forces who had fought alongside a European and US coalition trying to destroy Isis, an Islamist militant group responsible for several attacks in Europe.

Erdogan made his move after US president Donald Trump gave him the green light by phone.

The EU is concerned the fighting could end up freeing Isis captives being held in Kurdish jails.

And Trump himself said in a tweet on Monday that "big sanctions on Turkey coming" because Erdogan's military offensive had gone too far.

But he added that the "Kurds may be releasing some [Isis captives] to get us involved. Easily recaptured by Turkey or European nations from where many came".

Nato's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at an event in London von Monday, also warned that "we risk undermining the unity we need in the fight against Daesh [another name for Isis]".

"Turkey is important for Nato. It has proven important in many ways, not least in the fight against Daesh. We have used, as Nato allies, the global coalition, all of us have used infrastructure in Turkey, bases in Turkey in our operations to defeat Daesh," he added.

The EU measures on gas drilling come six months after Turkish vessels began operations in Cyprus' economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey is an EU membership candidate.

But the accession talks were put on hold in 2016, following Erdogan's mass-scale crackdown on people he accused of having supporting a failed coup against his rule.

EU powerless in new Syrian mayhem

EU foreign ministers are meeting to find a common position on the Turkish invasion in Syria. However, events are evolving quickly, as Kurdish forces asked the Syrian army to protect them.

Turkish attack on Syria might revive Isis

The EU has told Turkey to stop its attack on Syria, but Trump seems to be less worried about the 12,000 Isis fighters walking free, saying "they will be escaping to Europe".

Column

The last convulsions of the old world order

If European countries want a strong role in this new order, they must redefine sovereignty and update it. This means that only if Europeans are prepared to pool power, they can help lay the foundations for new international institutions.

Opinion

'Repatriation' of Syrians in Turkey needs EU action

We interviewed 18 Syrian refugees in Turkey by phone. They all said Turkish authorities had arbitrarily detained them in immigration removal centres and forced them to sign forms they were not allowed to read but believed were voluntary repatriation forms.

Magazine

EU buys guns

Gearing up for EU spending on arms procurement will be a top priority for the subcommittee on security and defence, according to its French chairwoman - but ethical questions remain.

Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog

Russia lost its seat on the board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time in the organisation's history — while Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were elected to the executive council.

Opinion

'Loss and Damage' reparations still hang in balance at COP28

There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.

Latest News

  1. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion
  2. Optimising Alzheimer's disease health care pathways across Europe
  3. Georgian far-right leader laughs off potential EU sanctions
  4. The EU's U-turn on caged farm animals — explained
  5. EU-China summit and migration files in focus This WEEK
  6. COP28 debates climate finance amid inflated accounting 'mess'
  7. Why EU's €18m for Israel undermines peace
  8. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us