Canada to resume drone exports to Turkey after defense deal

Canada is expected to resume exports of drone parts and other defense equipment to Turkey after the two countries reached an agreement on transparency around their usage, according to two Turkish officials who confirmed the deal on Friday.

Turkey has reiterated its commitments to share information about the end-usage of drone parts, including camera systems that were previously imported from Canada, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

The deal goes beyond import of drone parts, they said, hinting at a broader defense cooperation with Canada on the horizon. They refused to elaborate.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry declined to comment on the deal, which was first reported by Reuters. Charlotte MacLeod, spokesperson for Canada’s foreign affairs department, did not confirm the agreement but said Canada’s goal “has always been to resolve this issue given Turkey is a NATO ally.”

“Canada and Turkey continue to engage in frank exchanges on our bilateral, economic and commercial relations,” MacLeod said in an email. 

The announcement follows Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, paving the way to improve strained defense relations with US-led NATO allies. US President Joe Biden urged congressional lawmakers to approve the sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey on Wednesday, a day after the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, leaving Hungary as the lone holdout to the defense alliance’s northern enlargement.

Turkey is waiting for the US Congress to approve the sale of the jets to Ankara after its ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul on Friday. “The result that will come from there will enable the start of the process for delivery of F-16s to Turkey as well as their repair and maintenance,” Erdogan said after Friday prayers.

Turkey has since 2021 sought to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 Block 70 aircraft from the US company and 79 kits to modernize its fleet.

Ankara has complained for years about western partners including the US, Canada, UK, Germany and France refusing to provide missile-defense systems as well as critical equipment such as engines for tanks, warplanes, drones and helicopters developed by Turkish companies.

Most of those countries have expressed concerns that the equipment might bolster Turkish military offensives against autonomy-seeking Kurdish militants at home, as well as in Syria and Iraq.

When Canada stopped export of high-resolution cameras used in armed Turkish drones, Turkey started developing its own camera systems.

Turkey, however, remains sanctioned by the US over its acquisition of the advanced Russian S-400 missile-defense system, which NATO members worry might be used to gather intelligence on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth jet.

Turkey was barred from working on and receiving the F-35 after it decided to purchase the Russian system. It has refused to jettison the S-400 battery it acquired in 2019, and asked Washington to sell it F-16 jets to compensate for being locked out of the F-35 program.