BERLIN, Nov 8: Germany confirmed on Tuesday that it had agreed to sell nearly 300 battle tanks to Turkey. The defence ministry announced that 298 Leopard 2 tanks which currently belong to the German army will be sold to Turkey in a deal signed by both sides on Tuesday.

The Greens, the junior partners in the outgoing coalition government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, have in the past opposed selling tanks to Turkey because of the possibility that they would be used against Kurds in the southeast of the country.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in clashes since 1984 when ethnic rebels launched an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in that region.—AFP