Canada suspends arms export to Turkey after alleged use of weapons in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Canada announced Monday the suspension of arms exports to NATO ally Turkey as Ottawa investigates the alleged use of its military technologies in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

"In line with Canada's robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey, so as to allow time to further assess the situation," Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

Project Ploughshares, a Canadian arms control group, says video of air strikes released by Baku indicates the drones had been equipped with imaging and targeting systems made by L3Harris Wescam, theCanada-based unit of L3Harris Technologies Inc.

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Also see:Armenia and Azerbaijan: A decades-long bloody rivalry

The Globe and Mail said L3Harris Wescam had received permission this year to ship seven systems to Turkish drone maker Baykar. Turkey is a key ally of Azerbaijan, whose forces are fighting Armenians over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Separately, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters he had asked Champagne to travel to Europe "to discuss with our allies the developments in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, particularly in Nagorno-Karabakh".

He did not give more details and an aide to Champagne said the exact itinerary had not yet been worked out.

Earlier,NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergsaid he expected Azerbaijan ally Turkey to use its "considerable" influence to calm tensions while adding that he was "deeply concerned" over the escalation of hostilities.

His statement came afterAzerbaijan's ally Turkey accused Armenia of "targeting civilians" in Ganja and reiterated support for its fellow Turkic and Muslim country as "one nation, two states".

Turkey's Foreign Ministry had said: "The attacks of Armenia targeting the civilians in Ganja...are a new manifestation of Armenia's unlawful attitude. We condemn these attacks."