Canada’s PM Carney plans Türkiye visit for talks with President Erdoğan

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is planning a visit to Türkiye this month for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in what would be the first dedicated bilateral trip to the country by a Canadian leader, Reuters reported Friday, citing four sources familiar with the plans.

One source said Carney and Erdoğan could discuss free-trade talks launched on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara in July, as well as potential cooperation in energy and defense. Canadian and Turkish trade ministers agreed this week to accelerate the talks ahead of the leaders’ meeting, two sources said.

The visit would mark Carney’s latest effort to diversify Canada’s economic ties as he seeks to reduce the country’s reliance on the United States, by far its largest trading partner, following the collapse of trade talks in August.

Carney has vowed to double Canada’s non-U.S. trade over the next decade and has moved to strengthen ties with a range of countries, including China and India.

Türkiye, whose largest trading partner is the European Union, is also seeking new partnerships and investment in energy, infrastructure and mining, while expanding opportunities for its growing defense industry.

The sources did not provide dates or a detailed agenda for the visit, which is planned for later this month.

Carney’s office and Erdoğan’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No Canadian prime minister is known to have made a standalone bilateral visit to Türkiye in recent decades, though Canadian leaders have met Erdoğan and other Turkish officials on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings, including NATO and G20 summits hosted by Türkiye.

At the NATO leaders’ summit in July, Carney and Erdoğan formally launched negotiations for a free-trade agreement.

That month, Türkiye agreed to join Canada’s Defence Security and Resilience Bank as one of 10 founding member nations of Carney’s multilateral “middle powers” bank.

The two countries’ trade ministers met in June and discussed expanding cooperation on renewable and nuclear energy, according to a Canadian government statement, which also listed aerospace, defense and security as areas for potential new partnerships.

Türkiye has held talks with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis, South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation and China’s State Power Investment Corporation over potentially building its second and third nuclear power plants. Russia’s Rosatom is building the country’s first.

An executive at AtkinsRealis, which holds the exclusive license for Canadian-designed CANDU reactors, told Reuters this year that the company expects Türkiye to complete an initial review of its CANDU reactors following an information exchange, potentially paving the way for formal talks on a plant bid.

In a step that helped improve bilateral ties in 2024, Canada lifted weapons-export restrictions on Türkiye, including controls on optical technology used in drones that Türkiye exports to dozens of countries.

Bilateral trade, however, remains relatively small.

Türkiye accounted for less than 0.3% of Canada’s total merchandise trade in 2025, at C$4.34 billion ($3.05 billion), compared with C$1 trillion in trade with the U.S., according to Statistics Canada data.

Canada mainly exports lentils, aircraft and electronics to Türkiye, while importing medical devices, fishing vessels, aircraft engines and jewelry.

DAILYSABAH