UK halts new arms export licences for Turkey after assault on Kurds

THE UK will continue selling arms to Turkey but will not grant new export licences for weapons that might be used in military operations against Kurds in Syria, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has confirmed.

Ankara was coming under increasing condemnation for attacks on Kurdish fighters and civilians as the conflict entered its seventh day following Donald Trump’s sudden withdrawal of US troops.

Italy, France and Germany are among EU nations to have suspended weapons and ammunition sales to Turkey, but the UK has stopped short of this.

Mr Raab said yesterday that defence exports to Turkey would continue to be reviewed and that no new licences for weapons that might be used in the conflict would be granted.

But arms manufacturers will still be able to sell to the nation under existing licences, and the UK may still grant new licences for exports that it deems will not be used in the northern Syrian strikes.

Campaigners urged the UK to go further and impose an arms export embargo against Ankara.

Mr Raab told the House of Commons that “of course we will keep our defence exports to Turkey under very careful and continual review”.

“I can tell the House that no further export licences to Turkey for items which might be used in military operations in Syria will be granted while we conduct that review,” he added.

Mr Raab rebuked Turkey for its “reckless” action, which he said risks playing into the hands of Russia and the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Amnesty International UK said it was the “right decision” but urged for stronger action.

Policy head Allan Hogarth said: “The UK has a responsibility to minimise the risk of UK weaponry contributing to violations of international humanitarian law.”

Andrew Smith, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said the Government had “clearly been shamed” into the move.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began Turkey’s offensive on the Kurds after Mr Trump announced the withdrawal from the Middle Eastern nation that has endured eight years of conflict.

The US president has been accused of betraying the Kurds, who form part of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, and warned his move could lead to the resurgence of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group. Mr Erdogan regards the biggest militia in the alliance as a terror organisation and believes it to be an extension of a rebel group fighting in Turkey. Mr Trump did, however, announce sanctions aimed at restraining Turkey’s assault, as the US called for a cease-fire.

Meanwhile, MP David Davis has called on the Government to reconsider its stance on taking back British citizens who have travelled to join the so-called Islamic State. In a debate in the House of Commons, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden asked Mr Raab to reconsider bringing home British and European citizens who travelled to fight with IS in a bid to stop further terrorism.

Shamima Begum – the London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join IS – will begin her appeal against the removal of her British citizenship next week. Ms Begum, now 19, left the UK in 2015 and was found in a Syrian refugee camp after living under IS rule for more than three years.

Former Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked the teenager’s citizenship in February, prompting her family to take legal action against the Home Office in a bid to overturn the decision.

We will keep our defence exports under very careful review. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.