The first bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister yields deals on defense, energy and air transport as Ottawa seeks to reduce its reliance on the US and makes a sharp U-turn toward finding alternative partners.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a strategic partnership in Ankara on Oct. 22, without mentioning the arms export restrictions Ottawa continued until 2024. The leaders adopted a three-year action plan built on four pillars: trade, investment and innovation; energy and climate; defense and security; and government-to-government and people-to-people ties.
Ministers signed three agreements in the presence of the two leaders at the Presidential Complex. Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries, and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand signed a memorandum of understanding on defense industry partnerships. Anand also signed an air transport agreement with Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson signed a joint declaration on energy cooperation.
“Today, we have alleviated the long-standing Turkey-Canada disconnect,” Erdoğan said. He added that bilateral trade, now about $3 billion, would rise first to $5 billion and then to $10 billion. He gave no timeline.
Carney closed his remarks with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s maxim, “Peace at home, peace in the world.”
TRADE, ENERGY AND DEFENSE
The first round of free trade talks will take place in Ankara next month, Carney said. Export Development Canada and Türk Eximbank will sign a deal to support joint projects in third countries.
Energy cooperation covers nuclear power, critical minerals and liquefied natural gas. Ankara has held talks with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRéalis, as well as South Korean and Chinese companies, on its planned second and third nuclear plants.
On defense, Canada has signaled interest in drones, counter-drone systems and joint ammunition production. Turkey agreed at the NATO summit in Ankara in July to join the proposed Defense, Security and Resilience Bank as a founding member.
Carney will meet business leaders and investors in Istanbul on Oct. 23.
“PRINCIPLED AND PRAGMATIC”
The trip is part of Carney’s drive to cut Canada’s dependence on Washington, which buys nearly 70% of Canadian exports. President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on Canada and questioned its sovereignty. Neither leader mentioned the US in Ankara.
At Davos in January, Carney said Canada aimed to be “principled and pragmatic.” He called on middle powers to cooperate through flexible coalitions, which he termed “variable geometry.”
The visit also comes as rights groups and some European officials criticize Ankara’s crackdown on the dissidents since September. Carney, who pledged a principled foreign policy, did not publicly raise these issues in Ankara.
The partnership marks a reversal in defense ties. Ottawa suspended new military export permits after Turkey’s 2019 operation in Syria. In October 2020, it halted permits for drone optics after reports that Canadian sensors were used on Turkish-made drones in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. It cancelled them in 2021. Canada lifted the restrictions in January 2024, a few days after the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership.
