Canada cancels arms permits to Turkey over drone use in Nagorno-Karabakh war
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Canada has canceled arms permits to Turkey that were suspended last year, the country's Foreign Minister Marc Garneau announced yesterday (April 12).
"Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defense have conducted a thorough review of all suspended and valid export permits for all military goods and technology destined to Turkey," Garneau said in a statement.
"Following this review, which found credible evidence that Canadian technology exported to Turkey was used in Nagorno-Karabakh, today I am announcing the cancellation of permits that were suspended in the fall of 2020," Garneau said.
"This use was not consistent with Canadian foreign policy, nor end-use assurances given by Turkey," he added.
The Canada-based L3Harris Wescam company was selling imaging and targeting systems used in Turkey's TB2 Bayraktar armed drone.
Azerbaijan's widespread use of Turkey-made drones was thought to be key to the outcome of the one-and-a-half-month war in Nagorno-Karabakh a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Garneau noted that he had spoken with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu earlier in the morning amid Canada's concern and greater bilateral cooperation on export permits.
"Turkey is an important NATO ally and applications related to NATO cooperation programs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis," he said.
Earlier in the day, Çavuşoğlu asked Canada to review the restrictions, urging it to review the policy, while Turkey voiced its "discomfort" over the embargo, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Turkey's drone productionThe Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ/TAI) started working for the İHA-X1 Şahit drone in 1990. While two of these drones were produced in 1992, mass production of them was not started. The TAI later started the drone projects Gözcü in 2007, Ankara in 2010 and Aksungur in 2019. Currently, the most widely used drones by Turkey are produced by the Bakyar Defense company, which is led by Selçuk Bayraktar, the spouse of President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan-Bayraktar. With the use of its drones both within the country and in the conflicts in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey is recently cited as one of the leading drone users and manufacturers in the world. |
(PT/VK)