Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced Monday evening that his country has decided to suspend all arms exports to Turkey.
The move came following claims that Ankara sent some of its Canadian-made military equipment to its ally to support it in the battles of Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“In accordance with Canada’s strict export control regime, and in view of the continuing fighting, I have issued a decision to suspend the relevant export licenses to Turkey until the situation is better assessed,” Champagne said in a statement.
He added that he had ordered an investigation into allegations “that Canadian technologies were being used in the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh”.
According to Canadian media, Ottawa authorized the export of l3 Harris Wescam drone optics and laser targeting systems to a Turkish company that manufactures drones in May.
According to the reporting news agencies, Azerbaijan is now suspected of using Bayraktar drones manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar in the latest clashes around the disputed majority Armenian territory of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh.
