Ottawa – On Monday, the Canadian government announced it would be cancelling 29 permits which authorized the export of Canadian military technology to Turkey, after an internal government review concluded that Canadian technology was illegally deployed against Armenian forces in Artsakh.
Turkish defense giant Bayraktar, which manufactured Turkeys most widely commissioned drone the TB2 had installed imaging systems from Canadian based defence manufacturer L3Harris Wescam. Canada had suspended the permits in October after “allegations that Canadian technology was being used by Azerbaijan in the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to Canadian minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Gatineau.
The minister issued a public statement on Monday explaining the decision:
“Global affairs Canada, in consultation with the Department of National Defence, has since conducted a thorough review of all suspended and valid export permits for all military goods and technology destined to Turkey.
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.”
The minister also reassured Turkey they were “an important NATO ally,” but that “applications related to NATO programs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.”
By Fin dePencier
