EU Member States' foreign ministers agreed on Monday 14 October to control arms exports from Member States to Turkey, due to its offensive in north-eastern Syria, without formally adopting an embargo.
"Member States commit to strong national positions regarding their arms export policy to Turkey on the basis of the provision of the Common Position 2008/944/CFSP on arms export control, including the strict application of Criterion 4 on regional stability", warn Ministers in their conclusions. "On the contracts already committed, it is up to the various countries to see what they do", Luxembourg Minister Jean Asselborn said at the end of the meeting.
The relevant EU Council working group will meet later this week to coordinate and review the Twenty-Eight's positions on this issue.
Even before the meeting, several States had announced their intention to suspend the supply of arms to Turkey: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, joined, even before the European decision, by Spain and Italy, the two European countries that exported the most arms to Turkey in 2018, behind the United States.
One of the reasons the EU has not adopted an embargo is because of the time it would take to put it in place, explained High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini at the end of the meeting. But she also highlighted the particular position of Turkey as a NATO member, considering that EU Member States who are members of the Alliance could have problems in implementing such an embargo due to arrangements between Allies. The High Representative of the Union added that most EU arms embargoes are implemented on the basis of transposition of UN Security Council decisions.
But beyond this decision, the Spanish Minister, Josep Borrell, future High Representative of the Union, recalled the EU's limited possibilities for action. "We have no magic powers", he acknowledged, while stressing that all possible pressure must be exerted to stop the Turkish intervention.
For the first time, in their conclusions, the Europeans "condemn" the Turkish unilateral military action in north-eastern Syria, an offensive that "seriously undermines the stability and security of the entire region, causing further suffering for civilians and further displacement and seriously impeding access to humanitarian aid".
The EU Council therefore calls on Ankara to put an end to this action and to withdraw its forces. Turkish security concerns should be addressed through political and diplomatic means and not military action, and in accordance with international humanitarian law, the ministers stress.
Europe is particularly concerned about the risk of a resurgence of the Islamic State organisation. More than 800 relatives of jihadists have reportedly already escaped. According to the ministers, the Turkish offensive "significantly undermines the progress made so far by the global Coalition to defeat Daesh". They therefore call on the United States to convene a ministerial meeting of the international Coalition against Daesh "to consider how to continue its efforts in the current context". French Minister Jean Yves Le Drian, who has been calling for such a meeting since last Thursday, explained, on arrival at the EU Council, the importance of meeting to "consider the new data". Continued efforts by the international community, including the UN Security Council, to put an end to this unilateral military action are urgently needed, the ministers add.
Moreover, although an agreement on the creation of a constitutional committee in Syria was announced at the end of September, the ministers believe that the offensive makes "the prospects for peace more difficult". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)