Figures revealed on eve of
Turkish president's visit to London, and amid criticism of Ankara's crackdown
on alleged coup plotters and war in Syria
Jamie Merrill,
Diplomatic Editor
LONDON - Theresa May is
set to roll out the red carpet for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this
weekend, as new figures reveal that Britain has sold more than $1bn of weapons
to Ankara since the failed 2016 coup and subsequent crackdown under emergency
powers, Middle East Eye can reveal.
Turkey remains a
"priority market" for British weapons, despite concerns from human
rights groups and EU officials over the erosion of the country's rule of law.
Turkey is a fellow member of
NATO and has cooperated with the EU in tackling the refugee crisis, but critics
say that Erdogan's government has arrested or sacked more than 100,000 state workers
and members of the military in the wake of the coup attempt.
Unlike many other Western
allies, London spoke out quickly after the coup, in which fighter jets bombed
the Turkish parliament and troops opened fire on civilians.
But the UK has remained largely
silent as Turkey targeted not only the alleged plotters but also political
dissidents, journalists and members of pro-Kurdish parties for "supporting
terrorism".
Brexit push
Erdogan will meet the Queen
and the prime minister during his three-day visit to the UK, starting on
Sunday. It comes as the UK is making a Brexit push to boost trade with Ankara,
but also in the middle of a snap Turkish parliamentary and presidential
campaigns conducted under a state of emergency.
UK weapons sales since the attempted
coup include a $667m deal for military electronic data, armoured vehicles,
small arms, ammunition, missiles, drones, aircraft and helicopters.
It also includes a $135m deal
for BAE Systems to fulfil Erdogan’s plan to build a Turkish-made fighter jet.
The jet deal was signed by May
in January 2017 under an "open licence" to ease the transfer of
military technology, and UK officials now reportedly wish to expand the deal by
pushing for Rolls-Royce to win the engine contract.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour
MP who recently travelled to northern Syria, where Turkey is involved in
operations against the Kurdish YPG militia, told MEE: "The government has
been increasing arms sales to Turkey as it has fallen into authoritarianism at
home and warmongering abroad.
"The government should be
finding ways to protect our allies from Erdogan’s aggression but it instead
rewards Turkey with new arms contracts. The government is putting private
profit over both human rights and global security.
He added: "10 Downing
Street under Theresa May has become a revolving door for the world’s biggest
tyrants, who are also our biggest arms customers."
Turkey says the aim of its
intervention in Afrin, a Kurdish canton in Syria's northern Aleppo province, is
to counter the YPG, which it considers a terrorist group and an extension of
the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish
autonomy in Turkey for more than 30 years.
Russell-Moyle claimed there
was evidence that UK-made arms had been used by Turkey in northern Syria. The
British government has said it cannot categorically state that UK weapons are not in
use in Turkish military operations in Afrin.
Erdogan as a global statesman?
Andrew Smith, a director of
Campaign Against Arms Trade, which compiled the figures on weapons sales, added
that Erdogan is using the visit to London to "project an image of himself
as a global statesman, rather than the tyrant he is".
Smith told MEE: "By arming
and supporting Turkish forces, the government is making itself complicit in the
abuses that are being carried out.
"The last thing Theresa
May and the Queen should be doing is giving him the legitimacy and endorsement
of such a high-profile visit."
UK diplomats say they
regularly raise human rights issues with Turkey, and that Ankara is a key
partner in countering terrorism, as well as on refugee issues, given its
strategic border with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Kate Allen, Amnesty
International UK’s director, called for a more forceful approach on Turkey's
policies.
"This visit is an
opportunity for Theresa May to show the president that human rights and a
thriving civil society in Turkey are a priority of the UK," she said.
According to Amnesty's latest
report, a nationwide crackdown in Turkey has resulted in mass arrests and
the "near-destruction" of Turkey’s legal system.
It also noted that the
post-coup attempt state of emergency had been renewed on seven occasions, and
that more than 100,000 public sector workers have been arbitrarily dismissed.
The report noted that
journalists, academics, human rights activists and others have been arrested,
prosecuted and handed prison sentences.
The European Commission,
meanwhile, has recommended that Turkish accession to the EU should remain on hold because of concerns about human rights
abuses.
May's close relationship with
Erdogan is at sharp odds with the tone of the Brexit campaign, when
prominent anti-EU campaigners accused Brussels of "appeasement"
towards Turkey, and warned that "democratic development had been put into
reverse under Erdogan".
In 2016, her foreign
secretary, Boris Johnson, won a free speech competition in the Spectator for a poem
which derided the Turkish leader for his efforts to prosecute a German
comedian for an offensive poem.
Kurdish groups are expected to
plan protests throughout Erdogan's visit to London.
A spokesman for the Department
for International Trade, the government department which oversees arms exports,
told MEE: “The UK government takes its export control responsibilities very
seriously and operates one of the most robust export control regimes in the
world. We rigorously examine every application on a case-by-case basis against
the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria,
with risks around human rights abuses being a key part of that process.
“A licence will not be issued
if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory
Licensing Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that
it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International
Humanitarian Law.”
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