After years of low arms exports to Turkey, the German government is once again authorizing large-scale shipments to its fellow NATO member.
As of October 13, 69 permits worth €103 million have been issued so far this year, including weapons worth €840,000, the Economy Ministry said in response to a parliamentary question from a lawmaker from the populist BSW party.
This means that the value of exports authorized for Turkey has exceeded €100 million for the first time since 2011.
The total export of €101.1 million is due to exports for joint projects with other countries.
However, a number of exports have not yet been included in the statistics, according to Minister of Economy Robert Habeck.
In a letter to lawmakers in September, Habeck said the Federal Security Council had authorized companies Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Atlas Elektronik to export 28 Seahake torpedoes, including accessories and spare parts, for €156 million.
The committee, chaired by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also gave the green light to the delivery of 101 rockets from German manufacturer MBDA, the value of which has not been disclosed.
On Saturday afternoon, Scholz was due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul for talks that were also expected to cover defense exports.
During his visit to Berlin a year ago, Erdoğan made it clear that he would like to see stronger renewed cooperation in the defense sector.
Turkey wants to buy forty Eurofighter fighter jets, which will be co-produced by Germany. The German government has yet to approve this, but at Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, Scholz said he was in favor of Britain negotiating such a deal with Turkey.
Until the failed military coup in Turkey in 2016, the German government had approved large-scale arms exports to the country, including the supply of parts for six submarines, which was heavily criticized by Greece.
Following the attempted coup and invasion of northern Syria by Turkish forces, export licenses have been significantly reduced in recent years to a range of low, double-digit or even single-digit million euros.
