The German government has been dealing with recent debates in the German media regarding the Leopard tanks that are currently being used in Operation Olive Branch against the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian affiliate, the Democratic Union Party's (PYD) People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has received heavy military support from the United States.

The debates include claims that the Turkish military is using the tanks illegally. Ankara is a NATO ally of Berlin that has long been fighting the PKK, a group recognized as a terrorist group by the U.S. and the EU. Germany has also ignored the YPG's response to Turkey's attacks with German weapons as well.

Following the debates and demands of some German politicians to put an immediate halt to arms sales to Turkey, Der Spiegel claimed yesterday that Germany has stopped the modernization of German tanks that were sold to Turkey. However, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu immediately denied the claims yesterday, saying that there has been no cancellation of the upgrades of the German-made tanks in Turkey.

"A commission was going to meet regarding the tanks. That meeting is delayed. There is no cancellation of the modernization of the tanks," Çavuşoğlu said in a joint press conference in Istanbul with Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin had put a temporary halt on arms deals with Turkey and that he had "asked the secretary-general of NATO to also discuss within NATO the situation in Syria and in the country's north."

A government spokesman said Chancellor Angela Merkel from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Gabriel, from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), had agreed Berlin would not decide on the Turkish request before both parties had sealed a new coalition deal, Reuters reported.

Gabriel said in a statement that arms exports would be a big topic for discussion in negotiations on forming a new German coalition government, which are due to begin today. "For this reason, we in the caretaker government agree we don't want to anticipate the results of the current coalition negotiations, and we will wait for the formation of a new government before weighing up critical projects."

Gabriel said that Germany, the world's third-biggest arms exporter, is very concerned about the military conflict in northern Syria and had asked the NATO secretary-general to advise NATO members on the situation there.

On Tuesday, Stefan Liebich, a deputy from the Left Party, said they must stop weapons sales to Turkey since "this is no longer a war we should play any part in." Agnieszka Brugger, a lawmaker and defense expert for Germany's Green Party, also said that the German government must not look away again and needs to clearly state its position on the Turkish offensive against Kurds in Syria.

The sale of Leopard tanks to Turkey started 35 years ago. According to information gathered from the federal government, between 1982 and 1993, 391 Leopard and 1 archetype tanks were sold to Turkey. The sale of German tanks to Turkey continued with upgraded models in the following years. In between 2006 and 2011, Berlin sold 354 Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ankara. In 2005, Germany prohibited Turkey from delivering the tanks to a third country or party without its permission in accordance with the agreement between the two countries. The agreement did not have any other restrictions and removed the restriction that the tanks "can be used only in case of defense," which was valid for the Leopard 1 models for the upgraded versions of the tanks. The tanks were used in Operation Euphrates Shield against the Daesh terrorist organization, as well.

According to Die Welt, however, while Turkey is using German-made Leopard tanks against the YPG, the YPG also uses German weapons in response to the Turkish attacks."The fact that Turkey uses German Leopard tanks for their Operation Olive Branch and the Kurds oppose them with German weapons that were originally delivered to the peshmerga in northern Iraq, finally puts the fighting in the sphere of German domestic politics and the arms export debate," a Die Welt article said. However, this does not change that the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and U.S., is using Western weapons against Turkey.

However, this is not the first time the PKK's affiliates have been supported with Western weapons.

Germany has sold many Milan anti-tank missiles to the YPG, which were also displayed in the pages of Der Spiegel magazine.

Not only Germany, but also other European states have sold weapons to the YPG. For instance, Italy has sold mines, and France was supporting the YPG with military equipment.

The PKK has been using Russian-made DShK 1938s, a Soviet heavy machine gun firing 12.7x108 millimeter cartridge, mortars of various sizes, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other explosives.

It also uses Kalashnikovs, U.S.- made M16 infantry rifles, Austrian-made handguns and Russian- and Chinese-made RPG 7s – portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Most recently, the U.S. started to send weapons to the YPG, claiming that it is its partners in the fight against Daesh, as if these weapons would never be used against NATO ally Turkey. Despite Ankara's protests, the U.S. continued its support to the YPG for two years, referring to it as a reliable ally, which deeply affected relations between the two countries. On Jan. 16, spokesman for the United States-led coalition against Daesh Col. Ryan Dillon said that Syria's northern Afrin region is not a part of the U.S.'s area of operations against Daesh and that it does not support YPG elements in the area.

According to security officials in Turkey and Syria, the formation of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) more than two years ago also provided the U.S. with an opportunity to deepen its relationship with the PYD and YPG.

The SDF was formed in October 2015 when the YPG incorporated several armed groups.

The SDF is used as a fig leaf to disguise U.S. support for the YPG. The Pentagon said last week that U.S. forces are operating in close proximity with SDF fighters in northern Syria, including near the Turkish border. Images from Syria shared on social media often show militants wearing SDF and YPG insignias fighting alongside each other.