Canada has halted arms exports to Turkey while it investigates whether the drone technology was improperly used by Azerbaijan’s forces during ongoing clashes with Armenia, the Canadian foreign minister said Monday.

"In line with Canada's robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey so as to allow time to further assess the situation," Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in the worst outbreak of violence the South Caucasus region has witnessed in years. Hundreds have died during clashes this past week in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which is officially part of Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians backed by Yerevan. Turkey is backing Azerbaijan in the conflict.

Last week, video analysis from Project Ploughshares, a Canada-based arms control group, appeared to indicate that drones used by Azerbaijan had been equipped with imaging and targeting systems developed by the Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Wescam was granted permission this year to supply Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar with seven systems.