Sweden resumes weapons exports to Turkey

Stockholm, Oct 1 (IANS) Swedish companies have been granted export permits for the sale of military equipment to Turkey, the country's Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) has announced.The granting of export permits is part of Sweden's agreement with Turkey in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) negotiations, Xinhua news agency reported.The permits apply to all products affected by arms export legislation, which includes electronic equipment, software and technical assistance.All shipments of military products to Turkey were halted in 2019 due to its military operation against Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers a terrorist group.Sweden, together with Finland, applied to join NATO in mid-May. Turkey, which is already a member of the military alliance, objected over Swedish and Finnish ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and Syria's YPG. Ankara has also voiced dissatisfaction with the Swedish arms embargo against Turkey.Turkey and Hungary are the two remaining countries among NATO's current 30 member states that have yet to formally approve Sweden and Finland's bid to join the military alliance.
--IANS int/shs

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