Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a press conference during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12.KACPER PEMPEL/Reuters
The Canadian government says a ban on arms sales to Turkey was imposed “for important reasons” – and remains intact today – but refuses to divulge whether it’s in talks with Ankara about lifting it.
Media reports from Turkey suggest Canada has agreed to lift, or discuss lifting, an arms embargo on Ankara in wake of the Lithuania NATO summit where Turkish President Recep Erdogan dropped his opposition to allowing Sweden to join the military alliance.
Canada first imposed what is effectively a ban on arms sales in 2019 after Turkish forces mounted an incursion into northern Syria.
In a much-criticized move, Ottawa nevertheless allowed the shipment of some military goods to Turkey –Canadian-made airstrike-targeting gear – but the Turkish government misled Canada on its purpose and redirected it to Ankara’s ally, Azerbaijan, which used it to kill Armenians.
Government records released in 2021 to a parliamentary committee probing this matter revealed Turkey did not use the airstrike-targeting gear, which is used on drones, as it said it would. Ottawa issued export permits for this equipment to be shipped to Turkey in 2020 after assurances from Turkish officials that it would only be used to protect civilians under attack in Syria, documents showed.
The Globe and Mail was the first to report that despite the arms embargo, the Department of Global Affairs’ export controls division in May, 2020, issued permits enabling Burlington, Ont.-based L3Harris Wescam to ship seven MX-15D imaging and targeting systems to Turkish drone maker Baykar. The devices were valued at more than $1-million each.
Reuters on Thursday reported Canada has lifted a freeze on talks with Turkey about export controls on drone parts after Ankara gave its nod for Sweden to join NATO, citing an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations.
Mr. Erdogan’s greenlight, which ended more than a year of opposition to Sweden’s membership bid, announced ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Vilnius, was followed quickly by a statement from Washington that the U.S. would move ahead with a transfer of F-16 fighter jets in consultation with Congress.
Canada suspended the export of airstrike-targeting gear to Turkey in 2020 after reports the equipment had been used by Azerbaijan’s forces fighting Armenia in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. And in 2021, it cancelled the permits that had allowed these exports.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Friday no decisions have been taken to alter existing restrictions.
“The export controls for Turkey were imposed for important reasons. These controls currently remain in place,” Alison Murphy, a press secretary for the Prime Minister’s Office, said in a statement
Still, she said, “Canada remains committed to the principle that there should be no restrictions, barriers or sanctions to defence trade and investments among allies.”
Ms. Murphy declined to say whether Canada has agreed to commence talks on relaxing arms export restrictions to Turkey, as Reuters reported.
“Nothing to add at this time,” she said.
Ms. Murphy said Mr. Trudeau strongly supported Sweden joining the military alliance and acknowledged he spoke to Mr. Erdogan at the summit. “The Prime Minister discussed Sweden’s accession to NATO with our partners in Vilnius, including with President Erdogan.”
The Turkish embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday
Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares, a Waterloo, Ont.-based arms control advocacy group, said Canada should not politicize decisions about military exports.
“The suspension and eventual cancellation of arms exports to Turkey was based on the country’s consistent failure to act as a trusted recipient of Canadian military exports,” he said. “Time and again it has illegally diverted Canadian military goods to conflict zones, deliberately and consistently seeking to conceal its conduct from Ottawa.”
Ottawa is required under Canadian law and under the international Arms Trade Treaty to prevent, detect and stop the diversion of military goods to users other than intended customers.
“Applicable domestic and international export controls do not allow for exemptions based on political considerations or quid pro quo arrangements, which seems to be the context under which Canada is considering the lifting of the embargo” on Turkey, Mr. Jaramillo said.
“Turkey’s illegal diversion of Canadian military goods and its deliberate attempts to conceal it make it an ineligible recipient under the domestic and international law.”
Turkey was once among Canada’s top destinations for arms exports other than the United States, according to the Department of Global Affairs’s 2019 Report on Exports of Military Goods. More than $151-million of defence equipment flowed to Turkey that year.
With a report from Reuters
Steven Chase