Britain resumes arms exports to Turkey, Declassified UK reveals

A report by Matt Broomfield reveals that Britain has quietly resumed arms exports to its NATO ally Turkey, whose brutal operation in Syria targets the UK’s key Kurdish allies fighting Islamic State.

The report was published in Declassified UK and says that “the UK government suspended new arms deals with Turkey for weapons that might be used in the invasion. But last December, the government of Boris Johnson quietly resumed normal licencing.”

The article adds that “the UK is now arming Turkey again while its Nato ally is promoting former Islamic State militants and major human rights abuses, in north and east Syria and elsewhere.”

Declassified submitted a Freedom of Information request to the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT), seeking information on its discussions about arms for Turkey during the 2019 invasion. “But the government refused to provide the information it holds. It said: “Disclosure of the name of the company or companies… would be likely to damage the trading relationship between the UK company and their customer… This would be likely to risk future trading opportunities… [and] could possibly reveal details of commercial opportunities.”  The Foreign Office also dodged a similar request, saying release of information would “prejudice relations” between the UK and Turkey.”