International Norway lifts restrictions on arms exports to Turkey

Norway is lifting its restrictions on the export of military equipment to NATO partner Turkey after five years.

From now on, licenses for the export of defence equipment and multi-purpose goods for military use to Turkey can be applied for again as normal, as announced by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All license applications will be examined individually and thoroughly.

In autumn 2019, Norway, a founding member of NATO, decided to stop processing new applications for arms exports to Turkey until further notice. The reason for this was the invasion of Turkish troops in northern Syria at the time.

Other European countries had reacted similarly to the Turkish offensive against the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria. Germany had also partially halted arms exports to its NATO partner in Ankara at the time.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, declared himself satisfied with the announced lifting. Such restrictions were contrary to the spirit of the alliance, a ministry spokesperson quoted him as saying on Platform X.

SDA