Germany bans weapons sales to Turkey over Syria offensive

BERLIN: Germany said Saturday it is halting sales of weapons to Turkey over its widely criticized operation against Kurdish militias in northern  Syria .
Germany, along with many of its allies, has condemned the offensive that Ankara says is targeting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia — a force that has played a key role against the Islamic State group in  Syria .
It joins the fellow NATO members the Netherlands and Norway, along with Finland, in suspending arms sales to Turkey.
“In the context of the Turkish military offensive in northeastern  Syria , the government will not issue any new permits for any military equipment that could be used in  Syria  by Turkey,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was quoted as telling the Sunday edition of Bild.
Last year, Germany exported arms totaling almost 243 million euros ($270 million) to Turkey — also a NATO member — almost a third of its total weapons sales of 771 million euros.
And in the first four months of this year, sales to Turkey — its biggest customer in the transatlantic military alliance — reached 184 million euros.