Turkey used Italian, Scottish arms in bombing Syrian Kurds in Afrin

F16 fighters were used by the Turkish military to bomb the city of Afrin in north east Syria recently, an offensive described by critics as “ethnic cleansing”.

The arms giant Leonardo produces technology for F16 fighter jets in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Ferret website revealed in October 2017 that it had been given £6 million by Scottish Enterprise, prompting concerns over the use of taxpayers’ money.

The company received the money from the publicly-funded business support agency despite being the ninth largest arms multinational in the world, with sales worth nearly £7 billion in 2015.

Leonardo’s products include military helicopters, fighter jets, drones, missiles, naval guns, artillery and armored combat vehicles. It has produced laser targeting systems in Edinburgh for Turkey’s F16s.

Critics of the Afrin bombing have slammed Leonardo’s arming of Turkey and accused both the Scottish and UK governments of “complicity” in Turkey’s war on the Kurds, a new front in war-torn Syria.

“It’s a Leonardo product made and designed in Edinburgh,” an executive told Defence Turkey magazine. “We build 50 lasers a month in Edinburgh for the F16, F18, F35 for the target pods. We know how to build pointed trackers. We’re world-leading.”

Critics of the arms trade have called for a suspension of UK sales to Turkey. They accused the Scottish Government of hypocrisy for questioning Britain’s involvement in the recent missile strikes on Syrian chemical weapon plants while allowing taxpayers’ money to support companies selling arms into the war zone.

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