Sevak Belyan: Canada must not be complicit in Turkish-Azerbaijani war crimes

Canada may lift its arms embargo on Turkiye. This step can be taken as part of Sweden’s NATO accession deal, Sevak Belyan, Head of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, told Alpha News.

“All these are geopolitical, interstate games. But we should not sit idly by and accept all this. That is why we are raising the alarm today and we do not want to wait until the decision is adopted. If the Canadian government is really committed to the policy adopted towards Armenia and supports Armenia’s territorial integrity, it cannot arm a country that poses a threat to the Armenian nation. We are already speaking out and insisting that we are against all this,” Belyan noted.

He emphasized that instead of lifting the embargo, the Canadian government should support Armenia both with humanitarian assistance and in terms of protecting the right of return of Artsakh Armenians.

“Thanks to our efforts after 2020, we were able to show that Turkiye illegally provides weapons to Azerbaijan, which are used against Artsakh. As a result, Canada imposed the arms embargo on Turkiye. The Armenian National Committee of Canada believes that Canada must not be complicit in Turkish-Azerbaijani war crimes by contributing to the expansion of their military arsenals. Instead of lifting the embargo, the Canadian government must support Armenia, both in terms of humanitarian assistance and in terms of protecting the right of return of Artsakh Armenians,” Belyan concluded.