Canada’s Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne has announced the suspension of military equipment supplies to Turkey. The minister wrote about this on his Twitter page.
“In accordance with the strict export control regime and the ongoing investigation, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey,” the Foreign Minister wrote.
Canada’s Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne added that Canada is calling for immediate steps to be taken to prevent violence and protect the civilian population.
On 3 October, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canada needs to determine how military equipment supplied to Turkey ended up in Azerbaijan. Experts had examined video footage released by the Azerbaijani air force and concluded that the drones being used were equipped with targeting and imaging systems produced by a subsidiary of L3Harris Technologies, based in Canada. The Globe and Mail reported that this company had received a permit earlier this year and had supplied seven similar systems to the Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar. Canada’s Import and Export Permits Act prohibits the sale of weapons and ammunition if they could be used to violate international humanitarian rules or human rights.
