Export Licences
Since the failed coup in July 2016, and the crackdown against opposition groups that followed, the UK has approved permanent, Single Individual Export Licences (SIELs) export licences worth £806 million for arms exports to Turkey. Since the outbreak of the protests in May 2013, the figure rises to £1.3 billion.
In addition, 114 Open Individual Export Licences (OIELs) were issued for exports to Turkey, allowing for unlimited deliveries of the equipment specified in the licence.
Turkey remains a “priority market” for the UK government’s arms export unit.
UK arms export licences to Turkey 2008-2019
Collaborative projects
In January 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May signed heads of agreement for a £100 million deal for BAE Systems to support the development of Turkey’s indigenous TF-X fighter jets. BAE Systems is also involved in a joint venture with Turkey’s Nurol Holdings to build to build 17 amphibious attack vehicles.
Turkey is one of the original partners for the A400M Atlas military transport aircraft, taking delivery of 7 such aircraft between 2014-2017, according to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. The wings for the A400M are built in the UK by Airbus, at Filton, Bristol. BAE Systems produces equipment for the engines.
BAE Systems and other UK companies also have a major role in the F-35 Lightening II Joint Strike Fighter, for which Turkey is also a partner nation, and has ordered 100 aircraft, the first two of which were delivered in 2018, according to SIPRI. Fifteen percent of the value of every F-35 is produced in the UK.
Hidden exports
Most UK exports of equipment for the A400M, the F35, and the TF-X programmes are covered by Open General Export Licences (OGELs), which are even more expansive than OIELs, allowing the licence-free export of a wide range of equipment, specified in each licence, to countries listed in the licence. OGELs are valid indefinitely, until revoked.
Therefore, it is likely that a large proportion, and possibly a majority, of UK arms exports to Turkey are not revealed in the available data on arms exports to Turkey, including the figures discussed above.
Arms used in conflict
Turkey’s Air Force primarily uses Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter aircraft from the US, and T-129 attack helicopters, produced as a joint venture between Turkish Aerospace Industries and the Italian half of AgustaWestland, in most of its bombing campaigns, within Turkey and in Iraq and Syria. The F-16 fighter planes used by Turkey to bomb Afrin include laser targeting systems produced by Leonardo in Edinburgh. BAE Systems also produce components for the F-16.
Drone technology
In recent years, Turkey has become a major player in the production and use of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones), including armed drones. Turkey has deployed armed drones extensively in its wars against the Kurds, as well as its intervention in the civil war in Libya.
Research in 2019 by Ceri Gibbons, an activist with Brighton Against the Arms Trade revealed how Turkey’s development of armed drones was helped by the supply of technology and components from Brighton-based arms company EDO MBM, now a subsidiary of US company L3Harris. Specifically, they supplied bomb release mechanisms and associated technology which were used by Turkish arms company Baykar to produce Turkey’s first armed drone, the Bayraktar TB2. The first successful test fire of a missile from the Bayraktar was conducted in December 2015, just a few months after EDO MBM received licences for the crucial components and technology.
Suspension of new licences
In October 2019, following the Turkish offensive in Rojava in northern Syria, the UK government announced a halt to new export licences for arms sales to Turkey. However, existing export licences remain valid for use. In particular, BAE’s participation in Turkey’s TF-X programme (see above) appears to be unaffected.
