Unofficial talks on the sale of 350 German Leopard II tanks to Turkey have reached an advanced stage, said a report in a news magazine to appear Monday, in what could mark a decisive change in Germany's arms export policy.
A Turkish delegation inspected German arms stocks some weeks ago and current negotiations were focusing on the price, said the report in Der Spiegel, made available in advance.
Under German law, arms cannot be exported to countries where they might be used to aggravate domestic conflicts.
In the past Germany has refused to deliver tanks to Turkey because they might have been used against the restless Kurdish minority in south-eastern Turkey.
The Turkish government would not make an official request for the purchase of tanks until assured of a go-ahead from the German government, Der Spiegel said.
A German defence ministry spokesman declined to comment, saying only there had been no official purchase request from Turkey.
The Greens, junior members of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's coalition government, have previously vetoed German tank sales to Turkey because of the situation in the Kurdish region.
Recalling this, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, a prominent Greens leader, also noted in an interview with Der Spiegel that his party had expressed past misgivings about Turkey's human rights record.
"If things change, we will reassess the situation in the light of new realities," Fischer said.
There were "clear standards by which as a general rule arms co-operation can occur between NATO and European Union partners."
Germany is a member of both NATO and the EU, while Turkey is a NATO member but has yet to fulfil its ambition of EU membership.
This ambition received a boost this month from an EU commission report recommending a start to membership negotiations.
A German foreign ministry spokeswoman said last Monday Germany was considering relaxing restrictions on arms exports to Turkey after Ankara began EU membership negotiations.
According to a report in the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Fischer no longer supports restrictions on arms exports to Turkey, because these would contradict the EU recommendation that Turkey be allowed to start accession talks.
Leaders of the 25 EU countries will convene on December 17 to decide whether Turkey should start negotiations.
Comments
Comments are closed.