Turkish Companies Increase Arms Supplies to Armenia

Russia, despite the European Union embargo imposed since 2014, is receiving thousands of sniper rifles and millions of cartridges produced by Western companies through neighboring countries. This is reported by The Insider as a result of an investigation conducted in collaboration with Czech Investigace.cz, Italian IrpiMedia, and Kazakh Vlast.kz.

Journalists have found that in recent years, companies from the European Union, the USA, and Turkey have increased arms supplies to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. “Exports to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have increased two and a half times over three years - from about 20,000 rifles in 2020 to 53,000 in 2023,” the publication states.

The investigation also notes that exports of sniper rifles and other weapons from Italy to Armenia have increased nearly 30 times over four years, rising from 68 units in 2019 to 1,862 in 2023. The Armenian Ministry of Defense has not commented on military purchases.

According to the media outlet, Kyrgyzstan did not purchase any weapons from Italy in 2020 and 2021, received 882 units in 2022, and 4,434 in 2023. Arms exports from Turkey to Georgia increased from more than 8,000 units in 2019 to nearly 19,000 in 2023. Additionally, the media points out that Russian snipers continue to use Western rifles and cartridges instead of Russian weapons. This is also confirmed by videos from sniper competitions.