While Canadian drone technology was used by Azerbaijan against Armenian forces in Nagorno Karabakh, Ottawa canceled arms sales to Turkey, its NATO ally. The Canadian investigation also revealed that Turkey had used the drone equipment for surveillance and targeting in Syria, and had also shared it with Libya’s interim government for use in airstrikes.
Canada cancels arms sales to Turkey! While an investigation concluded that Canadian drone technology was used by Azerbaijan against Armenian forces in Nagorno Karabakh, the Canadian government announced the cancellation of arms sales to Ankara. These exports were suspended in October pending an investigation into accusations that Turkish-made military drones, used by Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia, were equipped with Canadian targeting systems.
This investigation “found credible evidence indicating that Canadian technology exported to Turkey was used in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Marc Garneau, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement, announcing the cancellation of permits. “This use was not in line with Canadian foreign policy or the end-use guarantees provided by Turkey, ” said the Canadian foreign minister, who expressed his “concern” to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The cancellation concerns 29 export permits for different types of military equipment. Canadian exports of military equipment to Turkey reached more than 150 million Canadian dollars (100 million euros) in 2019, according to the most recent official statistics. Mr. Garneau also called for the establishment of a “dialogue mechanism” between Canada and Turkey in order to establish “mutual trust and greater collaboration with regard to export licenses”. In addition, Canada will assess Turkey’s military requests in connection with NATO cooperation programs “on a case-by-case basis”, he said.
Last fall, Ankara-backed Azerbaijan won a large military victory over Armenia for control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. These battles, which left more than 6,000 dead, ended after six weeks in a ceasefire under the leadership of Russia, which saw Yerevan return important territories under its control since a first conflict, in the early 1990s.
The Canadian investigation also revealed that Turkey had used the drone equipment for surveillance and targeting in Syria, and had also shared it with the interim government of Libya for use in airstrikes, in violation of a UN arms embargo.
