Turkish gov't responds to report on arms sales to Syria

In a statement released on Tuesday in response to a Sunday Hürriyet report which claimed that Turkey has exported weapons to Syria and cited Turkish and UN data, the ministry said the media report spread misinformation by saying the goods that were exported to Syria were defined by international trade code 93, the classification for arms and ammunition. The statement underlined that all the weapons that were sent to Syria were classed under the code of 9303, used for the export of ungrooved hunting rifles and pistols that fire signal flares and drill cartridges used in sports activities and that there are no restrictions on the export of these items.

The statement announced that between June and October, 74 tons of ungrooved hunting rifles and pistols that fire blanks, valued at approximately $1.5 million, were sent to four different recipients in 18 shipments.

It also said that it is not true that the goods were not examined at border control, as the newspaper report asserted, and emphasized that the shipments were subjected to the highest level inspection.

The statement claimed that among the exported goods there were no war weapons, revolvers, automatic weapons, arms components, bombs or war ammunition.

The ministry characterized the news article as unfair, baseless, designed to mislead the public and giving space to slander and unfounded accusations. It also said the photo used in the report was aimed at misdirecting public opinion.

Turkey demands explanation from Egypt over alleged seizure of weapons

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has demanded an explanation from Egyptian authorities following reports claiming that pistols that fire blank cartridges were seized from a container arriving from Turkey.

On Dec. 15 Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram news website and the Mehwar TV station stated that security personnel at Port Said had seized 1,500 blank cartridge pistols and a large number of bullets from a shipment that originated in Turkey. The reports also noted that the pistols can be converted into weapons that fire bullets.  

The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday saying that such claims must immediately be investigated in a most serious and comprehensive way and that the truth must be promptly revealed.

“In order to launch the necessary investigation, concrete information about the weapons that have allegedly been seized is demanded from the relevant Egyptian authorities through the Turkish Embassy in Cairo,” a written statement said.