IS SELLING ARMS REGULATED IN PRACTICE?

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 6 Sayı: 5, 54 - 64, 31.05.2019

Cuneyt Yenıgun

Öz

Although it drops to second level after oil industry, arms trade, in fact, is the highest international trade sector. Majority of arms sales are orchestrated secretly because of national security concern, or paid from covered national fund or are sold to the illegal non-governmental organizations such as guerillas, warring parties, proxies and terrorist groups on the ground. That’s why, majority of arm sales are not seen within the legal documents and thence could not be tracked. Major arms, small arms and light weapons (SALW) are the main two categories in the arms sales. It sis proved that majority of the untracked SALW are used in illegal actions and civil wars today. Although selling weapons to the conflicted areas and illegal organizations are forbidden, high prices from the warring areas are attracting major arm suppliers to sell weapons to the mentioned areas by using “indirect ways” and middlemen. There was no regulation about the selling arms until Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), December 2014. Top-10 major arm suppliers, except three of them, have not signed or ratified the ATT and it is not an ideal document to stop illegal arms sales and indirectly civil wars; however human kind does not have better alternative at the moment. This article aims to ameliorate the imperfections of the ATT and stipulate to increase the number of signatory parties especially among the main arm suppliers.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Security Studies, Major Arm Sales, Arms Trade Treaty, International Law, Strategic Studies

Kaynakça

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