German arms exports to Turkey collapse: report

Germany's arms exports to Turkey have collapsed since the new German government took office six months ago, the German Press Agency (DPA) reported on Sunday.

Since March 14, the German government has only issued 16 export permits to Turkey worth 916,902 euros (1.06 million U.S. dollars), according to a parliamentary reply from the Economy Ministry to an opposition question.

In comparison, Germany had issued 34 permits worth 9.7 million euros in the period from Jan. 1 to March 13, and in the whole of 2017 there were 138 permits for 34.2 million euros of arms, DPA said.

In 2016, fellow NATO member Turkey imported 83.9 million euros in arms from Germany, requiring 213 export permits, making Turkey at the time one of the top 20 most important arms buyers for the German arms industry, according to DPA.

The Turkish-German relations took a hard hit following the failed military coup attempt in July 2016.

Berlin sharply criticized Ankara's human rights record in the wake of a nationwide crackdown in Turkey against thousands of suspected coup plotters, during which dozens of German citizens were arrested.

Since in mid-2016, arms sales from Germany to Turkey have fallen dramatically.