Senator Gold, last month our government resumed arms exports to Turkey, quietly lifting a ban that had been put into place three years ago after Turkey sent Canadian drone technology to Azerbaijan to be used in the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The fact that we had even sent Turkey that drone technology in the first place was a violation of an existing arms ban resulting from Turkey’s invasion of Syria.

Senator Gold, the threat to the Armenian people is alive and well, and probably greater than ever. What has changed from the time that the ban was put into place and now? What steps has President Erdoğan shown that he will not repeat his egregious behaviour as he has so many times? Armenian Canadians are very worried, and all Canadians are worried about the international rule of law and respect of basic human rights. They are very concerned with this government’s decision.

Senator, it is very important that the Trudeau government understands that capitulation to a dictator, even though it happens to be a NATO member, is not the right thing to do. It happens to be a NATO member that we’ve seen, time and again, bully us and use his leverage because he is part of NATO to do some of the most egregious things in the Caucasus and other parts of the world. We need assurances that the Trudeau government will start taking steps against tyrants and bullies who do not respect the values that we as a NATO member and our allies respect. Can I have an assurance that the Trudeau government will start doing that?