Turkey under 'covert' US, German defense supply embargo

By Sarp Ozer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s national defense minister on Tuesday accused American and German firms of imposing a covert embargo on Turkey by not supplying spare parts that Turkey uses in defense products.

Speaking at an event in the capital Ankara, Nurettin Canikli said: "Today, a lot of American and German firms do not give or delay giving spare parts that we use in defense products by applying a covert embargo."

Canikli said this happens even though Turkey pays in cash.

"But they are very generous to terrorist organizations," he added, apparently alluding to the PKK/PYD.

Canikli said that in recent years, Turkey has increasingly provided for its defense using its own home-grown defense products.

The U.S. has supplied the terrorist PKK/PYD with more than 1,000 truckloads of military equipment since June 1, on the pretext that the group is fighting the Daesh terrorist group in northern Syria.

The PKK/PYD is the Syrian offshoot of the terrorist organization PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

For more than 30 years, the PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 people -- security forces and civilians alike -- including more than 1,200 since July 2015 alone.