Britain: Turkey owns white phosphorus and we sold white phosphorus to Turkey

ARK News: The British “Times” newspaper "revealed that it is not true for Turkey to deny that it does not have white phosphorus, stressing that Britain sold military products to Turkey containing white phosphorus and these products amounted to more than 70 export licenses.

The newspaper stressed that Britain has now suspended arms sales to Turkey, especially that was used in its invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria.

In the details, the newspaper says, the concerns raised about Britain's sales of phosphorus products to Turkey, amid evidence of the use of chemical incendiary material against the Kurds north-eastern Syria.

British governments have issued more than 70 licenses to export military products that can contain phosphorus to Ankara over the past two decades.

A leading British expert in chemicals said that samples can be collected from the scene of chemical attacks and from burns of victims analysis, to identify the country of origin for any white phosphorus products used.

According to a report, military materials sold by Britain to Ankara include smoke bombs, ammunition, camouflage bombs, and others. While white phosphorus is not a banned chemical but must be used in accordance with international humanitarian law.

The newspaper pointed out that the Kurds, who suffered serious burns provided compelling evidence of the use of white phosphorus north-eastern Syria last week. The Times saw burns of the child Mohammed Hamid (13 years), a Syrian Kurd, as his body exposed to burning because of an attack carried out by a Turkish aircraft in the middle of the night of October 16.

For his part, Dominique Rapp, told Minister of Foreign Affairs, Parliament that no further export licenses will be issued "for materials that may be used in military operations in Syria" to Turkey until the review is conducted, where this procedure came after President Erdogan launched a sudden attack on the Syrian Kurds.

In turn, Hamish de Bretton Gordon, former commander of the regiment chemical, biological and radiological and nuclear in the United Kingdom said that he is "almost certain" that the phosphorus products sold by Britain to Turkey in recent years are one of the types of white phosphorus.

He added: "If we have samples (of the chemicals used in the attacks on the Kurds this month), it is possible to know where this phosphorus came from, whether it is a Syrian or Turkish stockpile." He added: "phosphorus burns intensely unbelievably. For people, it burns their bodies more strongly when it is related to moisture."

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