Over nine months of 2023, Türkiye exported $158 million worth of military goods to Russia
Over the first nine months of 2023, Türkiye exported 45 military goods worth $158 million to Russia and five former Soviet republics.
The Financial Times reports.
This was three times the number recorded over the same period in 2022. Overall, the average figure for 2015-2021 was $28 million.
In this regard, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson will visit Istanbul and Ankara to discuss "efforts to prevent, disrupt, and investigate trade and financial activity that benefit the Russian effort in its war against Ukraine."
The goods exported to Russia include microchips, communications equipment and parts such as optical sights. In order to circumvent sanctions imposed by the US, EU, Japan and the UK, Russia uses so-called "intermediaries" to hide the end users of the goods.
"With some of the third-party countries like Türkiye, we’re really at a weaker enforcement position than we’d ultimately like to be. We really have to lean on those countries to take enforcement actions in their own jurisdictions, to get at the specific entities that are facilitating the trans-shipment," said Kilcrease, a former deputy assistant US trade representative.
The fact that countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Qazaqstan are merely intermediaries for exports to Russia is evidenced by discrepancies in statistical reports.
For example, Qazaqstan recorded high-priority goods imports from Türkiye of $6.1mn in the year to September, but Türkiye's data shows exports of those goods to Qazaqstan totalled $66mn over the same period.
Earlier, it was reported that Qazaqstan would ban the export of goods to Russia that could be used in a war. At that time, it was also about goods exported from other countries through Qazaqstan as an intermediary.
It will be recalled that Russia uses Türkiye not only to import military goods but also to export its own raw materials. In October 2023, the trading giant Glencore transported five thousand tonnes of Russian copper through Türkiye to Italy.
