Canada's government has named the ambassador who is to helm a new embassy in Armenia at a time of escalating military conflict in neighbouring Azerbaijan, CBC reports.
Andrew Turner, a career diplomat, will be posted to Yerevan. Turner's background primarily involves postings in the Middle East, though he also has helped to shape Ottawa's response to tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced in June 2022 that Canada would eventually open a new embassy. Her office said it will help build up Ottawa's knowledge of the Caucasus region, "guide Canada's response to evolving security threats" and help foreigners with visas and Canadians with passport services.
The news comes as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, says Azerbaijan might be undertaking "ethnic cleansing" of Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Rae said Monday on Twitter that the evacuation represents "a complete failure of global diplomacy in the face of ethnic cleansing."
Joly has issued statements calling on Azerbaijan to stop escalating tensions. The NDP has asked her to start imposing sanctions on officials in that country who are responsible for violating human and international rights.
"Canada must make it unequivocally clear that the international community will not tolerate this conduct," reads a French-language letter signed by MPs Heather McPherson and Alexandre Boulerice last Friday.
Canada does not currently have an embassy in either country, with issues in Azerbaijan handled by diplomats posted to Turkey and a consulate opened in Armenia last year that reports to diplomats in Moscow.
