Defending arming of Kurds, Merkel calls Islamic State a threat to Europe

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government's taboo-breaking decision to send arms to Kurds fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, telling parliament on Monday that the group posed a major security threat to Germany and Europe.

A day after Berlin announced it would send anti-tank rockets, assault rifles and hand grenades to the Kurds, Merkel said Germany had a responsibility to intervene in the conflict to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq, citing evidence of ethnic cleansing by Islamic State fighters.

"The far-reaching destabilisation of an entire region affects Germany and Europe," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house, noting that the Islamist group controlled an area in Iraq and Syria that was half the size of Germany.

"Ladies and gentlemen, when terrorists take control of a vast territory to give themselves and other fanatics a base for their acts of terror, then the danger rises for us, then our security interests are affected," she added.

Germany, weighed down by its Nazi past, has shied away from direct involvement in military missions for much of the post-war era. And even in those conflicts where German troops have been involved, such as Afghanistan, politicians have tended to describe the missions as humanitarian, rebuilding exercises rather than war.

Recent polls show that two in three Germans believe the government should not be sending weapons to Kurdish fighters despite reports of atrocities committed by Islamic State insurgents.

Critics fear the arms could end up in the hands of jihadists. Others worry that Germany, which has not experienced a major attack on its own soil, could become a target itself if it intervenes.

But Merkel noted in her speech that over 400 Germans and hundreds of other Europeans had travelled to the region to join the fight alongside Islamic State, sometimes referred to as ISIS. These fighters could return home at any time, she said, and therefore already represented a direct threat to Germany.