New Delhi:
Amid Turkey’s offensive into Syria against Kurdish fighters, France on Saturday suspended arms exports to Ankara.Turkey’s military campaign comes in the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Sunday that US troops deployed in northern Syria were pulling back from the border. France said it had suspended all planned exports of “war materials” to Turkey that could be used in their offensive into Syria.
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.
A meeting in Luxembourg Monday of the European Union’s foreign affairs committee will decide on a coordinated European approach to the issue, French statement said.
On Saturday, Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called the Turkish attack as an “invasion of an Arab land”. The Arab foreign ministers called for an immediate withdrawal of Ankara’s troops. The statement comes after Egypt called an emergency meeting to discuss Turkey’s assault on the Kurds. The ground offensive launched by Turkey in Northern Syria has invited worldwide condemnations and threats of sanctions.
The Arab ministers called for “ending the aggression and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Turkey from all of Syria’s land”, the statement said.
The group said Ankara’s offensive was a “direct threat to Arab national security”, adding they would consider “urgent measures to confront the Turkish aggression”.
Moreover, the foreign ministers of Iraq and Lebanon called for Syria’s Arab League membership to be unfrozen.
