The export of war weapons to Saudi Arabia has increased significantly in the last year. The answer of the German Federal Ministry for economic Affairs, on a request of the link group in the Bundestag. Accordingly, German companies exported alone, from January to October 2018 and weapons of war to the value of 160 million euros to Saudi Arabia. Thus, the value of exports was already in the first ten months of around 50 million euros higher than in the total year 2017.
the rise The exports to Turkey in the same period, more than three times. The total value in 2017 of around 62.3 million euros in the first ten months of last year, 202,2 million euros. It was mainly to deliveries for the Navy. For more information on the types of weapons are not from the response of the Federal government.
arms exports to Saudi Arabia are, among others, therefore, controversial because parts of the delivered goods in the Yemen war. In November, the government announced after the murder of the government-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a temporary export stop. In the case of already issued permits for the guns they wanted to ensure that there’ll be no further exports, as it was then.
New arms export guidelines planned
Turkey is due to its role in the Syria war and an increasingly authoritarian policy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in focus. Arms exports are there, among other things, controversial because of the Erdoğan government on a military against Kurds in Syria. Turkey considered the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, because of their close Links to the Kurdistan workers ‘ party (PKK) as a terrorist organization and has fought in the past few years, repeated military.
“Because the Federal government does not act, can make the German armaments industry, a continued strong Profit with the criminal war in Yemen, as well as the aggressive foreign policy of Erdoğan,” said the Vice-Chairman of the link group, Sevim Dağdelen, the ZDF. “With a view to the of the head-from dictatorship of Saudi Arabia has humanitarian disaster in Yemen, and Turkey announced a new campaign against the Kurds in Northern Syria have to do with the Federal government everything in order to prevent the further Export of arms to Riyadh and Ankara.”
among the critics of Germany’s arms export policy, the two major churches. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) announced last month, until the middle of the current year’s new arms export policy to submit to aggravate the since 2000, and applicable Standards. Originally, this step was already planned for the past year.
