OTTAWA – Turkey’s deputy foreign minister says Ankara still wants Canada to lift its arms embargo.
Ahmet Yildiz, speaking Tuesday at a forum organized by the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy (IPD) think tank, said Canada’s restrictions on the export of drones and other material to Turkey amounted to sanctioning a military ally.
Mr Yildiz said he was “disappointed” by the restrictions, arguing that they hamper Turkey’s efforts to secure the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and defend the interests of the NATO military alliance.
Canada suspended new export licenses to Turkey in October 2019 following its military invasion of Syria and renewed the embargo in 2020, citing evidence that Canadian drones sent to Turkey were ultimately used by Turkey. Azerbaijan.
At the NATO summit in July, media reports, citing unnamed Turkish officials, claimed that Canada had resumed negotiations on an arms embargo.
The Canadian Press could not independently verify the reports, but Chris Kilford, a former Canadian military attaché to Turkey, said Ottawa could lift its arms embargo if Ankara supported Sweden’s bid to join the EU and NATO and whether it would accept restrictions, where Canadian drones could be used.
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