Julie Crowley named Canada’s next ambassador to Armenia

(Horizon Media / OTTAWA)— Global Affairs Canada announced on Thursday that Julie Crowley will become Canada’s next Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Armenia, replacing Andrew Turner. The announcement did not include a date for Crowley to formally assume her duties in Yerevan.

Crowley is a career diplomat who joined Canada’s foreign service in 2003. She holds a law degree and a certificate in journalism from Laval University, as well as a master’s degree in political science from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She previously worked at Global Affairs Canada as a legal adviser on environmental and oceans law and as a manager responsible for corporate governance affairs.

Much of Crowley’s diplomatic and development career has focused on Africa. She has served in Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Ethiopia, where her responsibilities included Canada’s relations with the African Union. From 2019 to 2023, she was the regional director of the International Development Research Centre’s Central and West Africa office in Senegal, overseeing work in 24 countries. Most recently, she served as Canada’s high commissioner in Rwanda and ambassador to Burundi.

Crowley will replace Andrew Turner, who was appointed in September 2023 as Canada’s first resident ambassador to Armenia. Turner joined the foreign service in 2002 and previously served in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Before his appointment to Yerevan, he was deputy director and later director of Global Affairs Canada’s Eastern Europe and Eurasia Division.

Turner’s tenure coincided with a significant expansion of Canada’s permanent diplomatic presence in Armenia. The Canadian Embassy in Yerevan was officially opened by then-foreign minister Mélanie Joly on October 25, 2023, following Ottawa’s June 2022 decision to establish a full embassy with a resident ambassador. That decision was informed partly by former minister Stéphane Dion’s special-envoy report on strengthening Canadian support for Armenia’s democratic institutions and development.

The opening of the embassy marked a major transition in a relationship that had previously been managed largely through Canadian diplomatic missions outside Armenia. It provided Ottawa with a permanent platform for direct engagement with the Armenian government, civil society and local communities, while expanding Canada’s capacity to support democratic governance, regional stability and economic cooperation.

The Armenian Canadian community has been a central driver of the relationship for decades. Through sustained community, parliamentary and public advocacy, Armenian Canadians have helped keep Armenia, the Armenian Genocide, Artsakh and broader Canada-Armenia relations on the national agenda. Canada officially describes the bilateral relationship as benefiting from close people-to-people ties and recognizes an engaged Armenian community of more than 60,000, while Armenian diplomatic representatives have similarly credited the community with strengthening Armenia’s presence in Ottawa.

Relations between Canada and Armenia were formally established in 1992 and have reached a considerably higher level of diplomatic engagement in recent years. Canada has become a third contributing state to the European Union Mission in Armenia, deploying Canadian expertise to the civilian monitoring mission operating along Armenia’s border regions. The mission’s observers and civilian experts currently come from 25 European Union member states and Canada, the only non-EU contributing country.

Crowley will assume the post as Canada continues to maintain a resident diplomatic presence in Armenia and pursue engagement in areas including political dialogue, development assistance, regional security, humanitarian issues and multilateral cooperation. People-to-people ties and the Armenian Canadian community remain an important part of the broader relationship.