Canada’s Carney Heads to Ankara to Meet Erdogan Over Trade Deal
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Ankara and Istanbul from October 21 to 23 for meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his office confirmed Tuesday. The visit will focus on expanding bilateral ties in energy, mining, climate, and defense, according to Reuters.
The trip is a direct consequence of the collapse of Canada-US trade negotiations in August. Carney has committed to doubling Canadian trade with non-US countries within the next decade and has been moving quickly to build relationships with China, India, and now Turkey, countries Canada has had turbulent histories with.
Carney has committed to doubling Canadian trade with non-US countries within the next decade.
In Istanbul, Carney will meet with Turkish business leaders and investors, pitching Canada as a destination for trade and investment. His office said the talks will emphasize aerospace, advanced technologies, and critical minerals alongside energy and mining.
The two leaders already kicked off formal free trade agreement negotiations at the NATO leaders summit in July. Turkey has also agreed to join Carney's proposed Bank for Defence, Security and Resilience as one of ten founding member states, a multilateral institution the Canadian PM is building among what he calls "middle power" nations.
This is a notable shift in Canadian foreign policy. Carney is deliberately diversifying away from Washington at a speed rarely seen in Ottawa, and Turkey, a NATO ally with deep defense ties across the Eastern Mediterranean, is emerging as a key piece of that strategy.
