German arms shipments worth $92 million
The value of Germany’s planned arms shipments to Kurdish fighters will total $92 million (70 million euros) if a Bundestag vote approves the consignments following Merkel’s address to the lower house of the parliament. The non-binding vote is expected to approve the measure easily, as Merkel’s conservatives and the allied Social Democrats hold a large majority. The shipments would break a post-war German policy of not sending arms to war zones, and are unpopular with the general public, according to opinion polls.