Canada is investigating possible deliveries of Canadian military equipment to Azerbaijan by Turkey, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday (October 2nd).
According to Canadian media reports, in May Ottawa issued permits to Canadian company L3Harris Wescam to export imaging and targeting systems to a Turkish drone maker.
Read also: Nagorno-Karabakh: in Martouni under fire from Azerbaijani artillery
This same material is now at the center of accusations that Azerbaijan is using drones made by the Turkish company Baykar in the ongoing six-day hostilities with Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh.
Populated mainly by Armenians, this region seceded from Azerbaijan at the end of the USSR, leading to a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
Baku has since demanded the withdrawal of Armenia from this region.
“
With regard to the Canadian military equipment that could have been used in this situation, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (François-Philippe Champagne) launched an investigation into what exactly happened
,” said Justin Trudeau during the a press conference.
"
It is extremely important that the terms of Canada's expectations for non-violation of human rights are always respected, and we can tell you more as things become clearer,
" he said.
Ottawa had suspended its exports to Turkey, mainly military equipment, a year ago after a military incursion from Ankara into northern Syria to fight Kurdish rebels.
Canada, however, resumed its exports in May.
A Canadian official said they will be frozen again if Ottawa establishes that the equipment has been used for purposes other than intended by Turkey.
"
We are very concerned about the situation in Nagorno Karabakh,
" Justin Trudeau said, calling for "
de-escalation
" between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
This conflict "
has been going on for a long time but there is no military solution to this situation, it must be resolved through dialogue
", he concluded.