Is Azerbaijan utilizing the cutting-edge Canadian drone technology, initially sold to Turkey, in its continuous war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh? Disarmament parties and the Armenian community group in Canada surely believe so after reports have surfaced of Azerbaijani forces utilizing Turkish assault drones outfitted with ‘made in Canada’ targeting sensors.
Turkey is favouring ‘brotherly Turkic nation’ Azerbaijan in this Caucasian clash with its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan straightforwardly condemning Armenia and pronouncing that allies of the “rogue state” would be “considered responsible”.
The heat created from the battle has additionally arrived at cool Canada, a large number of miles away.
In the previous month, Project Ploughshares, an Ontario-based peace research organization with an emphasis on disarmament efforts and worldwide security, distributed a detailed report ‘Killer Optics: Exports of WESCAM sensors to Turkey, a litmus trial of Canada’s agreement with the Arms Trade Treaty’ in which creator Kelsey Gallagher gave a strong proof of Turkey sending out UAVs outfitted with WESCAM sensors to armed parties in fight zones, an outright break of the almost decade-old United Nations arms ban.
L3Harris WESCAM, the Canadian auxiliary of US guard monster L3Harris, is one of the world’s driving makers and exporters of Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) imaging and targeting sensor systems. Turkey, associated with armed clashes in Syria, Libya, Iraq and presently allegedly in Armenia other than a heightening row with Greece over energy claims in the East Mediterranean, has been a significant client for WESCAM items, second just to the United States, since 2017.
As stated by the report: “Project Ploughshares has obtained evidence in government and public records, media reports, academic sources, accounts from credible human-rights monitors, and open-source data that strongly indicates that WESCAM EO/IR sensors, mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have been used largely by Turkey in its recent military activities. Such use raises serious red flags, as it has been alleged that Turkey’s military has committed serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and other violations, particularly when conducting airstrikes.”
After Turkey’s incursion into the north of Syria, Canada had joined Britain, Germany and France to suspend new arms export to Ankara last October. The temporary freeze was indefinitely expanded this April. Be that as it may, after Erdogan personally called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his NATO partner, Canada chose to offer military drone hardware to Turkey regardless of the arms ban.
The decision has now caused issues down the road for Trudeau after reports of Turkish unmanned aircraft being conveyed in the battle against the Armenian forces. While Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has requested an examination to see whether Canadian exports are being utilized in Nagorno-Karabakh, Trudeau said he’s “extremely concerned” about the dispute circumstance.
It is critical that the terms of Canada’s desires for non-infringement of human rights are constantly regarded, said Trudeau.
The Canadian-Armenian people group is likewise slowly accumulating pressure on the administration to boycott export of Canadian military technology by creating many protest rallies against the Azerbaijani and Turkish aggression.
The Canadian arm of Armenian National Committee said in a letter to Champagne: “During a global pandemic, Azerbaijan with the assistance of Turkey, launched an unprovoked full-scale offensive against civilian and military targets in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Canada is effectively becoming complicit in the crimes committed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. This is abhorrent and simply unacceptable, and the Armenian-Canadian community demands explicit explanations. Please join tens of thousands of outraged Canadians in calling for Canada to quickly cancel and forbid current and future export permits for arms to Turkey being utilised to kill innocent civilians by this authoritarian regime.”
The Armenian National Committee of America stated: “Turkish dictator Recep Erdogan and his allies in Azerbaijan are attacking Christian Armenia, a landlocked and blocked genocide-survivor state. Artillery, rocket, drone, and ground attacks have killed over a hundred Armenian soldiers and civilians – endangering the existence of the world’s first Christian nation. Call on Congress and the Presidential candidates to sanction Turkey and cut off all US military aid to oil-rich Azerbaijan.”
While there is still no end as far as anyone can tell to Erdogan’s Ottoman goals, the articulate dislike for his abominable activities has unquestionably crossed continents.
