No further export licenses to Turkey for military-related items, says UK Foreign Secretary

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday condemned the Turkish military offensive in the northern part of Syria and said the country will not grant licenses to Turkey for items that might be used in military operations.

He made the remarks while speaking in the British Parliament.

"No further export licenses to Turkey for items that might be used in military operations in Syria will be granted while we conduct that review," said Raab, according to Sputnik.

"The UK government takes its arms export control responsibilities very seriously and in this case, of course, we will keep our defense exports to Turkey under very careful and continual review," Raab told the UK Parliament.

The British Foreign Secretary also added that London needs NATO more than ever and "we need more than ever to have closer cooperation with the US and other allies over Turkey".

Earlier in the day. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara will send back to Syria one million refugees as the first step, while two more million refugees will follow.

Last week, Ankara launched a military operation in northern Syria after the United States, an ally of Kurdish militia People's Protection Units (YPG), in the war against Islamic State militants, announced its withdrawal from the area.

The United States and some European nations have now announced sanctions on Turkey for its incursion at the outskirts of Syrian boundary. The Turkish military action has displaced close to 2,75,000 people, the region's Kurdish-led authority was quoted as saying.

( With inputs from ANI )