Canada resumes sale of military drone gear to Türkiye

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canada will kickstart suspended drone gear sales to Türkiye after it promised transparency on where drones are used and ratified Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

Canada stopped drone exports to Türkiye in 2020 after concluding that the optical equipment provided was attached to Turkish-made drones and made available to its ally Azerbaijan to fight Armenians. And until last week, Türkiye had not endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO.

Both those hurdles have been removed and Hungary is now the only obstacle to Sweden joining NATO. All members must approve any bids to enter the NATO alliance.

While Canada and Türkiye are NATO allies, it took months of talks to reach a deal to resume the sale of military equipment.

The agreement calls for Türkiye to give information if drones with Canadian equipment attached are re-exported, particularly if Türkiye exports the drones to non-NATO members.

Under Canadian law and the international Arms Trade Treaty, Ottawa is required to prevent the diversion of exported military goods to anyone other than intended customers.

Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod told Bloomberg News in an email that while she would not confirm the deal, the goal “has always been to resolve this issue, given Türkiye is a NATO ally.”​​​​​​​

“Canada and Türkiye continue to engage in frank exchanges on our bilateral, economic and commercial relations,” she said in the email.