Turkish special forces patrol in Akcakale on the Turkish-Syrian border, in Sanliurfa province

France and Germany announced on Saturday that they are temporarily halting arms exports to Turkey over the country's military incursion into northern Syria

"Against the backdrop of the Turkish military offensive ... the Federal Government will not issue any new permits for all military equipment that could be used by Turkey in Syria," Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated on Saturday afternoon.

Hours later, Florence Parly, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, issued a similar statement.

"Pending the cessation of the Turkish offensive in North-East Syria, France has decided to suspend any plans to export to Turkey war materials that could be used in the context of this offensive. This decision is of immediate effect," she wrote on Twitter.

Berlin and Paris join fellow European countries the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland in their blockade, with the latter stating that the arms export ban concerned not only Turkey but also any other country involved in the fighting.

Turkey launched its military operation into northern Syria on Wednesday, days after the US announced that it was pulling troops from the area.

Ankara argues the offensive against the Western-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — which is affiliated to Kurdish groups Turkey recognises as terror organisations — will allow the creation of a "safe zone" along its border where the more than three million Syrian refugees it currently hosts will be able to relocate.

But Western countries, including the European Union, the US, and Australia, have condemned the military operation, warning that it could have dangerous consequences.

France and Germany were the third and fourth-largest arms exporters in the world between 2014 and 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The Netherlands, Norway and Finland were in 10th, 14th and 24th position respectively.

Turkey, meanwhile, was ranked as the world's 13th biggest arms importer with most 60% of its imports originating from the US, followed by Spain (17%) and Italy (15%).

Madrid and Rome have, for now, not taken similar decisions but EU leaders who will gather for a summit on October 17-18 in Brussels are expected to discuss a bloc-wide arms embargo to Turkey.