Turkey blocks exports of military-linked goods to Russia after US warning, 22 October 2024

Turkey has secretly barred exports to Russia of US military-linked hardware after Washington warned Ankara of “consequences” if it did not halt the trade.

Ankara has in recent weeks adjusted its customs systems to block exports of more than four dozen categories of US-origin goods that Washington and its western allies view as vital to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, said three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Turkey’s electronic customs system no longer allows exporters to proceed with sending shipments of the so-called “battlefield goods” to Russia, one of the people said, having previously enabled them to be transported there. Similar goods originating from the EU were blocked earlier and remain so, two of the people said.

The trade curbs, which affect civilian parts such as microchips and remote control systems that western allies say are being used in weaponry, were not publicly announced because of “political sensitivities”, one of the people said.

Turkey’s trade ministry and Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not respond to requests for comment...

The quiet bans on military-linked exports to Russia, however, are the latest sign that Turkey is stepping back from the role as a lifeline from western sanctions that it embraced earlier in the war.

Turkey’s banks sharply cut their business with Russian counterparties this year after the US issued an executive order threatening sanctions against lenders processing transactions for the Kremlin’s war machine...

The banned goods are taken from a list of 50 “high-priority” western-made items that the US, UK, EU and Japan have identified as crucial to Russia’s imports for its arms industry.

They include advanced electronics that regularly turn up in missiles and drones downed in Ukraine, such as processors and memory cards, as well as machine tools and other equipment used to produce weapons...

Turkey’s exports of these goods surged in the aftermath of the full-scale invasion, increasing from about $3mn a month at the start of the war to a peak of about $38mn in December 2022, according to official Turkish government statistics. They registered about $4.1mn in August this year, the most recent figures available...