Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has ordered an investigation into allegations Canadian technology is being used in drones that are targeting Armenians in the ongoing Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), CTV News reported.
"Canada is deeply concerned by reports of large scale military action along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, and we call for the immediate end of hostilities, respect for the ceasefire agreement, and the protection of civilians," said Michel Cimpaye, a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada, in a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca.
His comments come in the wake of allegations from Canada's Armenian community that a Canadian-made sensor is being used in Turkish-manufactured drones that they say have been deployed in the ongoing Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Sevag Belian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, told CTVNews.ca that there's "overwhelming evidence" in Turkish and Azerbaijani media that these drones are being used "to specifically find [and] target both military targets and civilian targets."
The Canadian peace research institute Project Ploughshares recently published an extensive report on this issue. It says it gathered evidence that "strongly indicates” the Province of Ontario’s L3Harris Wescam sensors have been mounted on Turkey's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—better known as drones—which the report claims "have been used extensively by Turkey in its recent military activities."
CTV News has reached out to the company for comment, but has not received a response.
"We are currently not satisfied with the way the government is responding to the situation," Belian said. "The situation is so dire that civilians are being targeted, innocent children, women and men are dying, because this technology is facilitating that."
He said the Canadian government must "immediately condemn" what’s happening in the region and must "suspend all exemptions" that allow this sensor to be exported to Turkey.
