US Officials Believe Turkey Violating Agreement on Use of US Arms

Evidence of arms' misuse is 'credible'

US officials are investigating reports that the Turkish government has violated end-use agreements on US-provided arms in the invasion of northeastern Syria, saying initial findings are that the claims are credible.

This conclusion has led to further investigation and review. This could be a big issue for US arms sales to Turkey, particularly at a time when Turkey’s invasion of Syria has made them unpopular in Congress.

The US rarely makes a big deal out of violations of end-use agreements by allies, which is to say that they’ve made it a point not to punish the Saudis for all the civilians they’ve killed. Turkey’s invasion of Syrian Kurdish territory has been high-profile, however, and puts officials in a bit of a difficult position.

It’s also an occasion, increasingly common in Syria, where the US has armed both sides of a conflict, as the Kurds are surely armed almost entirely with US arms, and while Turkey buys from a few NATO nations, the US is clearly a major source.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.