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.


Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’

Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’
Updated 1 min 9 sec ago
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Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’

Hezbollah vows to keep fighting Israeli ‘aggression’
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Monday vowed to keep up the fight against Israeli “aggression,” on the anniversary of its militant group ally Hamas’s October 7 attack that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese have paid a “heavy price” for the Iran-backed group’s decision to open a “support front” for Gaza on October 8, but “we are confident... in the ability of our resistance to oppose the Israeli aggression,” it said in a statement, calling Israel a “cancerous gland that must be eliminated, no matter how long it takes.”

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal
Updated 4 min 34 sec ago
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“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

“Victory in Gaza may be delayed, but it is coming” says Hamas former leader Khaled Mashaal

DUBAI: Hamas’ former leader Khaled Mashaal said what is happening in Gaza is a “holocaust” in a speech he delivered on Monday morning. 

Mashaal said the Oct. 7. attacks happened because all political horizons were closed and has achieved "strategic results" since. 

He thanked Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran for supporting Hamas and called on Arab countries to provide financial support to Gaza.

Mashaal said Israel opened the war front in Lebanon after failing to achieve its goals in Gaza and claimed that Israel is conspiring against Jordan and Egypt.

“Israel is defeated although it has achieved accomplishments against Iran and Hezbollah,” added Mashaal.

Mashaal concluded by asking the people of Gaza not to despair and promises them victory soon.


Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza
Updated 07 October 2024
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Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza

Israeli hostage forum announces death of captive held in Gaza
  • Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival

TEL AVIV: An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza, as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova music festival and his “body is still held captive by Hamas.”
The forum said Shtivi had just arrived at the festival site when the attack began.
“On October 7, Idan arrived at the Nova Festival in the early morning to document his friends’ performances and workshops,” the forum said in a statement.
“However, he never made it inside. When the attack began, Idan helped two strangers he had just met escape from the site. This selfless choice ultimately led to his abduction.”


Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel

Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel
Updated 07 October 2024
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Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel

Hamas armed wing claims to fire rockets at southern Israel

GAZA: The Israeli military said Monday that at least four projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip just minutes after the country began to formally commemorate last year’s October 7 attacks.
“Following the sirens that sounded at 06:31 in several communities near the Gaza Strip, four projectiles were identified crossing from the southern Gaza Strip. Three of the projectiles were intercepted by the IAF (air force) and a fallen projectile was identified in an open area,” the military said in a statement.
The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired rockets into southern Israel at “enemy gatherings” at Rafah crossing, Kerem Shalom crossing and kibbutz Holit near the border with Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had also prevented an “immediate threat” from Hamas’ intentions to fire rockets.
“The IAF (air force) struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip,” the military said.
“Furthermore, overnight, the IAF and IDF (Israeli army) artillery struck targets in the central Gaza Strip that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.”
The military said sirens also sounded in the Upper Galilee area of northern Israel, with no let-up in the daily rocket fire from neighboring Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah militants.
Earlier on Monday the military said it had also intercepted two “suspicious aerial targets” that were launched from the east.


Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary
Updated 07 October 2024
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Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

Israel intensifies bombardment of Gaza and southern Lebanon ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque killed at least 19 people.
A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began.
Israel’s military confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the northern city of Haifa, though it was not immediately clear whether shrapnel from “fallen projectiles” was from rockets or interceptors. Hezbollah said it tried to hit a nearby naval base. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated 10 people, most of them hurt by shrapnel.
Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week. The widening conflict risks further drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.
Israel is on high alert ahead of memorial events for the Oct. 7 attack, while rallies continue around the world marking the anniversary.
Israel bombards southern Beirut
Beirut’s skyline lit up again late Sunday with new airstrikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on Sept. 23. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

Israel confirmed the strikes and says it targets Hezbollah. The militant group, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, has called its months of firing rockets into Israel a show of support for the Palestinians.
A separate Israeli strike earlier Sunday in the town of Qamatiyeh southeast of Beirut killed six people, including three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
“It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything,” resident Haytham Al-Darazi said. Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it “a night of terror.”
One strike killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. “This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women,” said a neighbor, Ali Al Hajj.
Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group from its border so tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.
The Israeli military is now setting up a forward operating base close to a UN peacekeeping mission on the border in southern Lebanon, a UN official told The Associated Press. The base puts peacekeepers at risk, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
UNIFIL, created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions ahead of the ground incursion.
New evacuation orders in northern Gaza
An Israeli strike hit a mosque where displaced people sheltered near the main hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir Al-Balah. Another four were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter near the town. The military said both strikes targeted militants. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue.
Israel’s military announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, home to a refugee camp dating to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel has carried out several operations there only to see militants regroup. The military said three soldiers were severely wounded in Sunday’s fighting in northern Gaza.
Israel reiterated its call for the complete evacuation of heavily destroyed northern Gaza, where up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained.
“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.” A later statement said three projectiles were identified crossing from northern Gaza into Israeli territory, with no injuries reported.
Frantic residents fled again. “Since Oct. 7 to the present day, this is the 12th time that I and my children, eight individuals, have been homeless and thrown into the streets and do not know where to go,” said one, Samia Khader.
The Civil Defense — first responders operating under the Hamas-run government — said it recovered three bodies, including a woman and a child, after a strike hit a home in the Shati refugee camp.
Residents mourned. Imad Alarabid said on Facebook an airstrike on his Jabaliya home killed a dozen family members, including his parents. Hassan Hamd, a freelance TV journalist whose footage had aired on Al Jazeera, was killed in shelling on his home in Jabaliya. Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al-Sharif confirmed his death.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack and took another 250 hostage. They still hold around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
UK advises against travel while France seeks partial arms embargo on Israel
The United Kingdom on Sunday advised its citizens against non-essential travel to Israel due to the violent clashes in the Mideast. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also advised against all travel in parts of northern and southern Israel, most of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
Last week the UK advised its citizens against all travel to Lebanon.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his call for a partial arms embargo on Israel, which had prompted an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had described such calls by Macron as a “disgrace.” Macron’s office insisted that “France is Israel’s unfailing friend” and called Netanyahu’s remarks “excessive.”
Later on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders had spoken and agreed to promote “a dialogue” on the matter. Macron’s office called the discussion “frank” and said both leaders “accepted their divergence of views.”