Large package report
Traffic light allows massive arms exports to Turkey again
October 6, 2024, 7:21 p.m
Recently, the federal government has been holding back on arms deliveries to Turkey. According to a media report, the traffic light is now making a U-turn: it is allowing exports worth several hundred million euros.
According to a media report, the federal government has approved large-scale arms exports to Turkey for the first time in years. As “Spiegel” reports, the Federal Security Council, which meets in secret, is said to have recently given the green light for the delivery of German weapons worth several hundred million euros. These include 100 anti-aircraft missiles and torpedoes for the Turkish Navy as well as large packages of materials for the modernization of Turkish submarines and frigates.
The new approvals emerge from a list from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is said to be available to “Spiegel”. Accordingly, the MBDA arms manufacturer is allowed to supply Turkey with 100 guided missiles for air defense of ships. According to the report, the financial scope of the deal is not specifically mentioned in the list, but the package of RAM rockets is likely to be around 100 million euros.
In addition, according to “Spiegel”, the Federal Security Council approved the delivery of 28 SeaHake torpedoes from ThyssenKrupp’s naval division for 156 million euros. In addition, two consortia of German defense companies are expected to deliver material packages for the modernization of Turkish submarines of the U209 type for 79 million euros. The delivery of engine parts for Turkish corvettes and frigates was also released for 1.9 million euros. In total, the permits issued in one go are likely to amount to around 336 million euros.
The numbers mark a change of course by the traffic light government. In recent years, Berlin has drastically reduced all arms exports to Turkey, as the country has increasingly developed from a former candidate for EU membership into a problematic partner. Only recently, the NATO partner even applied for membership in the Brics group of emerging countries, which is dominated by China and Russia, thereby snubbing the alliance.
As a result, the federal government has recently hardly approved any arms exports for its NATO partner. In the whole of 2023, only 17 mini-projects worth 1.22 million euros were approved.