Canada Lifts Arms Embargo Against Turkey

Canada has lifted the defense industry embargo on Turkey imposed in 2020 over concerns about military equipment supplied to Azerbaijan during the conflict with Armenia.

In a recent statement released on the government's official website, Canadian authorities announced the removal of export restrictions on defense industry companies looking to sell to Turkey. The rejection policy, which began on April 16, 2020, is no longer in effect as of the announcement.

Applications for export and brokerage permits to Turkey, including items on the ammunition list, will now be evaluated on a case-by-case basis within the framework of Canada's risk assessment protocol. This signals a shift in the Canadian approach, indicating a more nuanced examination of export applications.

The background of the embargo dates back to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which commenced on September 27, 2020. Canada imposed the arms embargo on Turkey due to the latter’s alignment with Azerbaijan during the conflict against Armenian-occupied lands. The embargo, initiated in October 2020, alleged that Canadian technology was used in Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles deployed against Armenian positions.

Canada had linked resolving the export freeze with Turkey's welcoming of Sweden into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which it did last week.

As a consequence of the embargo decision, Canadian companies suffered significant financial losses, estimated at $250-300 million. Telemus Systems, the sole user of the products affected by the embargo, filed for bankruptcy in the first seven months of 2021 due to the inability to generate income.

It's worth noting that this is not the first time Canada has taken such measures. In 2019, the Ottawa administration imposed an embargo in response to Turkey's military operation against Syria. However, the decision was later reversed in June 2020 following high-level diplomatic discussions between the two nations.

The recent lifting of the defense industry embargo is anticipated to have positive implications for bilateral trade relations between Canada and Turkey.