ANKARA (Middle East Eye) – Finland’s defense minister, Mikko Savola, has granted a military export permit to Turkey, a first since 2019, when European countries placed an arms embargo on Ankara over a military operation in Syria. Last year, Turkey said it would only ratify Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO if they removed their arms exports restrictions on the Turkish defence sector.
Savola told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that he personally made the decision to grant export permits for protective steel that could be used for military vehicles.