Canadian military calls off training mission in Armenia

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was briefed last year about plans for the Canadian Forces to train Armenian military personnel, but his officials say such instruction won't proceed.

Fighting broke out in September between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the sixweek conflict, Turkey supported Azerbaijan with military aid, including drones equipped with Canadian surveillance equipment. A ceasefire was brokered by Russia.

Nine months before the conflict, national defence policy advisers outlined to Sajjan the potential for military training for Armenia. They asked the minister for a decision on the matter, according to a briefing note prepared for Sajjan.

But Sajjan's spokesperson, Floriane Bonneville, said there were no plans to conduct training with Armenia.

More than 5,500 people were killed during the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Russia has sent around 2,000 military personnel to monitor the peace deal.

Azerbaijan's military forces had the upper hand during the war with their use of more advanced technology. That equipment included Israeli-made drones and the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone that carried missiles and was used to destroy infantry positions, armoured vehicles and trucks.

Armenian forces shot down a Bayraktar drone and displayed the Canadian-made equipment on the aircraft. The equipment was manufactured by L3 Harris Wescam in Burlington, Ont.

The Canadian Forces has ongoing training missions in Latvia and Ukraine. It also has around 500 military personnel operating in various Middle East nations as part of efforts to counter the Islamic State of Iraq. That insurgency has been largely defeated, according to military officers, and the Canadian mission is scheduled to end March 31.

In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Sajjan refused to say whether the mission would be extended.