In just the first 4 months of 2017, the Turkish army has bought 5.600.000 Euros worth of weapons and ammunition from German arms companies.

According to Germany’s laws, weapons manufacturers have to get approval from the government to sell weapons to foreign countries. Contrary to the ultimatums they issue against Erdoğan, the coalition government of Christian democrats and social democrats are increasingly greenlighting arms trade to Turkey.

The Ministry of Economics under the Merkel government responded to the written inquiry submitted by Die Linke regarding arms trade with Turkey. The ministry’s response shows that the weapons trade with the Erdoğan regime hasn’t been significantly affected by the continuous tensions and crises between the two countries.

ARMS TRADE DOUBLED IN 2016

The ministry declared that 49 million Euros worth of weapons and ammunition have been sold to the Turkish army in 2016, and that the number was 26.5 million Euros in 2015.

The ministry stated that they have approved 22 million Euros worth of weapons and military equipment sales to Turkey in the first four months of 2017, which amounts to almost all the trade volume in 2015. The Die Linke MP who submitted the written inquiry Sevim Dağdelen pointed out that the Merkel government is arming countries that support radical Islamist terrorism.

Dağdelen said arms trade with countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar is dangerous and added: “With the weapons sold, the government is fanning the flames of the conflicts in the region.”

ERDOĞAN HOSTED RHEINMETALL IN HIS PALACE

It had recently come to light that the German weapons company Rheinmetall was going to manufacture 1000 panzer type tanks worth 7 billion Euros in Turkey. Photographs from Erdoğan hosting Rheinmetall managers in his palace in November 2015 to ensure this deal were published in the media.

Prominent German news journal Stern included an article in last week’s issue that stated Rheinmetall had put a plan in motion years ago so they wouldn’t be affected by possible tensions and crises between Berlin and Ankara. Rheinmetall’s chief Armni Papperger had cleverly decided to manufacture the tanks to be given to the Turkish army on Turkish territory in 2015, and that was the reason for their visit to Erdoğan’s palace.