Canada’s reversal on defense exports to Turkiye marks strategic shift within NATO

Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signs a drone at a military airbase in Batman, Turkey. (AP file photo)
Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signs a drone at a military airbase in Batman, Turkey. (AP file photo)
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Updated 28 January 2024
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Canada’s reversal on defense exports to Turkiye marks strategic shift within NATO

Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signs a drone at a military airbase in Batman, Turkey. (AP file photo)
  • Announcement shows an unfreezing of Turkiye-North American defense industrial cooperation, analyst says

ANKARA: In a significant geopolitical development, Canada has decided to lift its years-long embargo on exporting air strike-targeting gear to Turkiye, as reported by Reuters. The embargo, originally prompted by concerns over the diversion of Canadian optical drone technology to Turkish ally Azerbaijan during the 2020 conflict with Armenia, is set to end following Turkiye’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO application protocol.

The resumption of export permits for the Canadian-made L3Harris Wescam targeting equipment comes after a parliamentary vote and presidential approval in Turkiye, aligning with the Swedish NATO accession process.

Rich Outzen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, views this move as a positive step toward NATO allies collaborating on defense initiatives.




Turkish president Tayyip erdogan meets with canadian prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Vilnius, lithuania. The potential thaw is seen not only through the resumption of canadian exports but also through progress on an F-16 deal. (Reuters)

“It was a different world when Canada stopped such exports. Russia had not ramped up its war in Ukraine, Turkiye had not mended fences with many pro-Western states in the Middle East, and Turkish aerospace industries had not advanced as far as they have today,” he told Arab News.

The embargo covered permits for various military goods, including camera components integral to Turkish drones.

Noting that the L3 Harris/Wescam systems are useful in drones such as Turkiye’s Bayraktar TB2, many of which have been exported to Ukraine, Outzen said that there was a shared interest of Turkiye and the US/Canada when agreeing to lift this critical embargo.

“The Turks can manufacture domestic optics, but perhaps not in the quantity needed and perhaps not at the same level of sophistication,” he said.

While not officially confirmed, Reuters reports that the new deal includes a commitment for Canada to receive information on the end-users of the military equipment, especially if re-exported to non-NATO members.

The potential thaw in defense-industrial cooperation is seen not only through the resumption of Canadian exports but also through progress on an F-16 deal.

Outzen thinks the Canadian announcement shows an unfreezing of Turkiye-North American defense industrial cooperation.

“Turkiye is a growing player in the defense industry — including ammunition and ground vehicles as well as drones and related equipment — so this is an important development for the alliance,” he said.

“The West has a need for more defense industrial production, given the threat of multiple wars and the reality of limitations in the Western defense industrial base. Turkiye needs the continued technological partnering. So, the door is open for mutually beneficial defense cooperation to increase.”

Turkiye, keen on upgrading its military technology, linked Sweden’s NATO membership to the approval of a $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets, including modernizing its existing fleet.

The US State Department’s recent approval of the sale aligns with US foreign policy goals to enhance Turkiye’s air capabilities and interoperability within NATO.

The $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkiye includes 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and equipment to modernize 79 of its existing F-16 fleet.

The State Department has recently notified Congress that it has approved the sale of F-16 aircraft and related equipment to Turkiye, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed off on Sweden’s accession protocol to NATO. The lawmakers have 15 days to object following the formal notification to Congress.

The sale supports US foreign policy goals “by improving the air capabilities and interoperability” of NATO ally Turkiye, according to a statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Friday.

Sine Ozkarasahin, an analyst in the security and defense program at EDAM, an Istanbul-based think tank, notes that external reliance on subsystems remains a challenge for Turkiye’s defense industrial base, particularly in high-end sophisticated solutions.

“This reliance affects industries like the fifth-generation tactical military aircraft, submarines and main battle tanks more than drone systems,” she told Arab News.

Despite restrictions affecting projects like the Altay main battle tank, Ozkarasahin highlights how Turkish drone manufacturers found alternatives, such as the domestically developed Aselsan national camera system.

“We saw how Turkiye’s Altay main battle tank project stalled because of Germany’s export restrictions,” she said.

However, according to Ozkarasahin, Turkish drone manufacturers such as Baykar were able to find a way around the restricted Canadian systems such as the L3Harris Wescam by reaching out to indigenous replacements, as well as other supply channels.

“The domestically developed Aselsan national camera system, Common Aperture Targeting System, is one example,” she said.

The Canadian embargo obliged Ankara to produce the embargoed parts on its own, which reinforced domestic production capabilities, like the indigenous armed drone Bayraktar TB2 UCAV using domestically developed electro-optic reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting system CATS that was developed by Turkish defense company Aselsan.

Ozkarasahin thinks that Canada’s move to lift the export controls that it adopted back in 2020 can fuel a positive momentum and a softening approach towards Turkiye within the Western bloc.

“As a NATO country with a defense ecosystem compatible with the Alliance’s military doctrine and infrastructure, from a technical standpoint, trading with Western partners is always the best alternative for Ankara,” she said.

Yet, Ozkarasahin also said that Turkiye’s Western allies that had previously imposed embargoes on Ankara — such as Canada — will see that the Turkish supply pool now includes more variety, meaning more competition.

In the meantime, the mass production of Turkiye’s indigenous long-range air defense system SIPER Product-1 has recently begun, and it is expected to rival the Russian S-400.

Haluk Gorgun, the head of the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency, recently announced that the systems would be delivered to the Turkish Air Forces Command in mid-2024.

How the sale of US fighter jets to NATO member Turkiye will impact Ankara-Moscow ties is still uncertain, as Ankara has long maintained its close ties and military technology trade with Moscow as an instrument to bolster its security needs.

In the past, Ankara’s deal with Moscow for the purchase of a multibillion-dollar Russian S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile system triggered several US sanctions on the NATO ally over the concerns that it would pose a risk to the NATO alliance as well as the US-led F-35 joint strike fighter program. Washington also removed Turkiye from the F-35 joint strike fighter program.

“In the given technical context, Russia and Turkiye don’t and can’t have a meaningful defense relationship. The S-400 incident was an anomaly. Haluk Gorgun’s statements stating that the entry of assets like the Long-Range Regional Air and Missile Defense System Project (SIPER) into the Turkish arsenal made the S-400 unnecessary show that there is no real appetite in Ankara to build such ties with Moscow in the coming months,” Ozkarasahin said.

The purchase of new F-16s signifies a pivotal moment for Turkiye’s aging air force arsenal, following its exclusion from the F-35 program in 2019 over the Russian missile defense system acquisition.


Palestinian Authority says 16 killed in Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp

Palestinian Authority says 16 killed in Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp
Updated 26 sec ago
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Palestinian Authority says 16 killed in Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp

Palestinian Authority says 16 killed in Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp

RAMALLAH: At least 16 people were killed in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarm, the Palestinian Authority said late Thursday, following an Israeli air strike in the area.

“Sixteen martyrs following the bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on its Telegram account.


G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast

G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast
Updated 20 min 52 sec ago
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G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast

G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast

LONDON: Leaders of the G7 countries on Thursday voiced concern over the “deteriorating situation” in the Middle East while warning against further “uncontrollable escalation” in the region.

G7 leaders “express deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct military attack against Israel,” they said in a statement.

They warned that the “dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fueling uncontrollable escalation... which is in no one’s interest.”

The statement said G7 leaders had discussed “coordinated efforts and actions” to avoid further escalation of conflict in the region, without specifying details.

“We also reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance, and an end to the conflict,” it said.


Yazidi woman, 21, freed from Gaza in US-led operation

Yazidi woman, 21, freed from Gaza in US-led operation
Updated 51 min 43 sec ago
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Yazidi woman, 21, freed from Gaza in US-led operation

Yazidi woman, 21, freed from Gaza in US-led operation
  • She ‘was in good physical condition but was traumatized by dire humanitarian situation in Gaza’

A 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Daesh in Iraq more than a decade ago was freed from Gaza this week in an operation led by the US and involving Jordan and the Baghdad government, Iraqi and US officials said.

The woman is a member of the ancient Yazidi religious minority mostly found in Iraq and Syria, which saw more than 5,000 members killed and thousands more kidnapped in a 2014 campaign that the UN has said constituted genocide.

She was freed after more than four months of efforts that involved several attempts that failed due to the difficult security situation resulting from Israel’s offensive in Gaza, said Silwan Sinjaree, chief of staff of Iraq’s foreign minister.

Officials did not provide details of how she was eventually freed, and Jordanian and US Embassy officials in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reuters could not reach the woman directly for comment.

A State Department spokesperson said the US on Oct. 1 “helped to safely evacuate from Gaza, a young Yezidi woman to be reunited with her family in Iraq.”

The spokesperson said she was kidnapped from her home in Iraq, aged 11, and sold and trafficked to Gaza.  Her captor was recently killed, allowing her to escape and seek repatriation, the spokesperson said.

Sinjaree said she was in good physical condition but was traumatized by her time in captivity and by the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. 

She had since been reunited with family in northern Iraq, he added.

The Yazidi nightmare
Ten years after the genocide, their torment continues
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More than 6,000 Yazidis were captured by Daesh from the native Sinjar region in Iraq in 2014, with many sold into sexual slavery or trained as child soldiers and taken across borders, including to Turkiye and Syria.

Over the years, more than 3,500 have been rescued or freed, according to Iraqi authorities, with some 2,600 still missing.

Many are feared dead but Yazidi activists say they believe hundreds are still alive.


Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says

Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says
Updated 03 October 2024
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Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says

Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says
  • Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios
  • “The level of trauma, the level of fear among the population, has been extreme,” he said

BEIRUT: Civilians are bearing the brunt of a “truly catastrophic” situation in Lebanon, a senior UN official said, urging respect for the rules of war nearly two weeks since Israel launched a major offensive against the armed group Hezbollah.
With around 1 million people in Lebanon impacted, Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios, and too much damage was being done to civilian infrastructure.
“What we saw from Sept. 23 on is truly catastrophic,” Riza said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. He was referring to the day when Israel dramatically ramped up airstrikes in Lebanon, killing more than 500 people in a single day, according to Lebanese government figures.
“The level of trauma, the level of fear among the population, has been extreme,” he said.
Israel says its campaign against the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah aims to secure the return home of Israelis evacuated from areas near the Lebanese border as a result of nearly a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Lebanese government says around 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut and other parts of the country. Some have been killed in Israeli strikes after having been displaced.
“You’ve got people being displaced from one place to another, thinking they were going to a safe place, and then that being struck,” Riza said.
Riza said 97 medical and emergency workers had been killed — the majority of them in the last 10 days. There has been too much damage to civilian infrastructure, and civilians have been “bearing the great brunt of what’s been going on,” he said.
He noted that international humanitarian law requires that humanitarians be allowed to access people in need, and that civilian infrastructure and water systems be protected.
“This is what we call for when we’re saying respect the rules of war in this,” he said. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a situation where we have to go back to everybody and advocate for these basics in terms of protecting civilians.”
The conflict began a nearly a year ago when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war. It marks the worst conflict since Hezbollah fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
Riza and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday launched a $426 million appeal to mobilize resources for civilians affected by the conflict.
Lebanon was already suffering myriad crises before this conflict began.
As a result, Riza said Lebanon was less well placed to deal with conflict now than in 2006: “People don’t have buffers the way they had in 2006, on the other hand the institutions that are there to help them are much weaker.”


Yemen’s government asks Yemenis to leave Lebanon as war intensifies

Yemen’s government asks Yemenis to leave Lebanon as war intensifies
Updated 03 October 2024
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Yemen’s government asks Yemenis to leave Lebanon as war intensifies

Yemen’s government asks Yemenis to leave Lebanon as war intensifies
  • Houthis claim their military forces launched barrage of drones at ‘vital targets’ in the Israeli capital in support of Palestinian and Lebanese people
  • Yemenis who wish to leave Lebanon should first request a transit visit from the Syrian government

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s government has asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah escalates.
The Yemeni embassy in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, has requested that Yemenis in Lebanon travel by land to the Lebanon-Syria border due to the lack of charter flights for air evacuation.
Yemenis who wish to leave Lebanon should first request a transit visit from the Syrian government, it said.
The Yemeni embassy will arrange buses and other transport to take them by land from Lebanon to Syria and then to Jordan, where they will be transferred to Yemeni Sanaa or Aden airports on Yemenia Airways flights, according to the Yemeni embassy.
This comes as Yemenis in Lebanon have urged their government to evacuate them immediately as Israel has increased its airstrikes on the Lebanese capital and other areas of the country, targeting Hezbollah locations.
However, Yemenis reject the embassy’s proposal to evacuate them by land to Syria, saying that the Syria border crossing with Lebanon is congested with thousands of people fleeing the war and also prone to Israeli airstrikes.
Mushtaq Anaam, a Yemeni national living in Beirut’s Cola, told Arab News that a recent Israeli airstrike struck 70 meters from where he lives and that he refused to travel from Lebanon to Syria by land after hearing an Israeli military spokesperson threaten to strike the Lebanon-Syria border, claiming it to be an entry point for weapons to Hezbollah.
“I’d rather stay here than travel through Syria, which is a dangerous route that has been bombed repeatedly,” said Anaam, who is a postgraduate student in Lebanon.
Anaam suggested that the Yemeni government work with the Lebanese authorities to allow Yemenia Airways planes to transport them or that they be evacuated by sea.
“The situation here is dire, and the war is becoming more intense by the day,” he said.
However, the Yemeni embassy in Beirut said that it was unable to secure a flight to evacuate Yemenis by air and that the only viable option was to travel by land through Syria.
The Yemeni embassy in Beirut and Yemeni foreign ministry officials were unavailable on Thursday to respond to Arab News’ requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea claimed on Thursday that their military forces launched a barrage of drones at “vital targets” in the Israeli capital in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, vowing to carry out more attacks on Israel until it ended its war in Palestine and Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that it shot down a drone over the Mediterranean Gush Dan on Thursday morning, while another landed in an open area, but did not elaborate on the origins of the two drones.
Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on Yemen’s western city of Hodeidah on Sunday, targeting ports, power plants and fuel tanks in response to a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s capital.
Since November, the Houthis have attacked more than 100 commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea and other seas off Yemen, using drones, ballistic missiles and drone boats in a campaign that the Yemeni militia claims is in support of the Palestinian people.