Prime Minister Mark Carney and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a strategic partnership on Thursday aimed at expanding trade and defence co-operation, during the first dedicated bilateral visit to Turkey by a Canadian prime minister.
The three-day visit, which began Wednesday, includes meetings with Erdogan in Ankara and business leaders in Istanbul. Canada and Turkey do about $4.3 billion in trade annually. Carney and Erdogan formally announced the launch of free trade negotiations at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7.
The partnership has four pillars: trade and investment, defence and security, energy, and people-to-people ties. Negotiators will hold the first round of free trade talks in Ankara next month. The agreement also includes a new defence industry co-operation accord to connect Canadian and Turkish companies, and will pave the way for investments in energy and critical minerals. The two countries will finalize an air transport agreement to increase passenger flights.
Carney praised Turkey as an “exceptional” partner.
“No country builds strength alone,” he said in a joint statement at the presidential palace. “The most resilient countries bring together complementary strengths with trusted partners. Our goal isn’t self-sufficiency. It is collective resilience.”
Erdogan said the agreements mark a new era in relations.
“We had diplomatic relations, but we had some kind of disconnect for a very long time now,” he said. “And today we put an end to it. Now comes a new period, a new era for Turkey and Canada.”
Erdogan said he plans to visit Canada with a business delegation but did not say when.
The visit comes a month after Turkish authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on dissent and civil society, including the dismantling of 2SLGBTQ+ and HIV-advocacy organizations. Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, who is accompanying Carney along with Foreign Minister Anita Anand, said, “The prime minister has been very clear. We need to engage with the world as it is, not the way we wish it to be.”
Canada imposed a de facto arms embargo on Turkey in 2021 over allegations that Canadian-made drone parts were redirected to Azerbaijani forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The policy has since been eased. Officials said Canada continues to assess each potential export on a case-by-case basis.
On defence, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr visited Turkey in May 2026 and identified ammunition production, drones and counter-drone systems as areas for potential co-operation. Fuhr said future collaboration could involve co-development programmes.
On energy, Turkey plans to add roughly 20 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050. Ottawa and Ankara are reportedly planning a working group to study the feasibility of a bid by Canada’s Candu nuclear team to build Turkey’s second or third nuclear plant. Officials declined to confirm any specific outcomes.
Immediately after landing in Ankara on Thursday, Carney visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and laid a wreath at the monument.
Sources: CBC Politics · CBC Politics