BALADI NEWS
France and Germany on Saturday suspended arms exports to Turkey over its offensive into Syria against Kurdish fighters, as protesters denounced Ankara at rallies in several European cities.
Turkish soldiers on Wednesday launched a cross-border assault against Kurdish fighters Turkey sees as terrorists, in defiance of international criticism and threats of sanctions.
In a joint statement from the defence and foreign ministries, France said it had suspended all planned exports of "war materials" to Turkey that could be used in their offensive into Syria, AFP reported.
The Paris statement came hours after Germany, one of Turkey's main arms suppliers, also said it had suspended exports.
A number of countries have condemned Turkey's offensive, and Finland, Norway and The Netherlands have already announced that they are stopping arms exports to the country.
Reuters noted that Germany exported arms worth 243 million euros ($268m) to Turkey in 2018, accounting for almost one-third of its weapons exports, according to Bild.
Responding to Germany's announcement, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Germany's Deutsche Welle radio that it was "a question of national security, a question of survival".
Source: Middle East Eye.