Turkish army uses German-made tanks in Syria

Moaaz Mohamed

German media sources said Turkey had provided Syrian militias with German-made tanks, while Berlin denied it has anything to do with the matter.

German magazine Bild has reported that Turkey supplied its Syrian allied militias with German-made Leopard-2 tanks. However, the German government said on Nov. 22 it had nothing to do with the matter.

Ulrike Demmer, the spokesperson for the German government, stated that they had no findings on the issue. “Of course, it is in our best interest to follow the export of arms and equipment and to follow the rules we have adopted in this export,” the spokesperson said.

The Turkish army is accused of using banned arms in its military operations in northern Syria, the Newsweek magazine reported last month.

Turkey has given confirmation that its troops have been using Leopard 2 tanks supplied by Germany during their offensive against Kurdish fighters in the Syrian border region of Afrin, according to a report from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs, according to DW.

Turkey, a NATO partner of Germany, received 354 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany in the 1990s, with the only condition being that it did not sell or give them to any third party.

Although Germany said it wouldn’t export arms to Turkey, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs said it had approved the export of military equipment worth 4.4 million euros on March 15, 2018.