ANKARA: Canada has unfrozen talks with Turkiye on lifting export controls on drone parts after Ankara gave its nod for Sweden to join NATO, a move seen as one of several concessions won in exchange for the Turkish blessing.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s greenlight, which ended more than a year of opposition to Sweden’s membership bid, came as a surprise even to allies at home who had supported him in demanding Stockholm first take steps against groups deemed terrorists by Ankara.
Erdogan’s decision, announced ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Vilnius, was followed quickly by a statement from Washington that the United States would move ahead with a transfer of F-16 fighter jets in consultation with Congress.
In a potentially significant move for Turkiye’s defense industry, NATO member Canada agreed to re-open talks on lifting export controls on drone parts including optical equipment, the person familiar with the talks said, declining to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss details with media.
Canada suspended the export of some drone technology to Turkiye in 2020 after concluding the equipment had been used by Azerbaijan’s forces fighting Armenia in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ahead of the NATO summit, Turkiye, already seeking assurances over the F-16s in talks with Washington, asked that Canada’s export controls also be rolled in to the final discussion, the person familiar with the talks said.
Turkiye sought “a package deal,” the person said.
Comments are closed.