(24 Jan 2018) The German government fired back on Wednesday at critics of its arms export policies, insisting that it takes great care not to approve the sale of weapons to countries that abuse human rights.
Newly released figures show the governing coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats approved more weapons exports over the past four years than its predecessor, including to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.
Figures contained in a government response to the opposition Left party show Germany's centrist "grand coalition" approved sales worth 25.1 billion euros (30.7 billion US dollars) between 2014 and 2017, an increase of 21 percent compared with the previous four years under a more right-leaning government.
Exports to countries outside the European Union and NATO rose even more steeply, by 47 percent to almost 15 billion euros.
Asked about Turkey's reported use of German-made tanks in its offensive against Kurds in northern Syria, defense minister Ursula von der Leyen told broadcaster n-tv the the tanks were sold as part of a normal procedure under NATO rules.
Still, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Germany's ambassador in Ankara was seeking to have talks with Turkey's defense minister to gather more information.
"Of course the question of how the Turkish military operation is arranged will play a role," spokeswoman Maria Adebahr told reporters in Berlin.
A spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry, Tanja Alemany, said Germany conducts "very, very serious and restrictive checks before approval (of arms exports), for example to Turkey."
"Nobody says it's easy, but it's true that the German government tries very seriously to handle this responsibly and in a restrictive way," she said.
Merkel's bloc and the Social Democrats are currently discussing extending their coalition for a further term. As part of a preliminary deal earlier this month, the two sides agreed to stop approving arms exports to countries involved in t
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