Looking beyond the US: Canada and Turkey launch strategic partnership
Mark Carney is the first Canadian prime minister to make a bilateral visit to Turkey. He and President Erdogan agreed to launch free trade talks.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a strategic partnership between their countries in Ankara. A three-year action plan covers trade and investment, defense and security, energy, and people-to-people ties. The two sides will work toward a free trade agreement, with a first round of talks due in Ankara next month, according to a joint statement. Carney's two-day trip is the first bilateral visit to Turkey by a Canadian prime minister, Al Jazeera reported.
Erdogan put bilateral trade at about $3 billion, with a goal of first $5 billion and then $10 billion. "We have today overcome the disconnect that had persisted between Turkiye and Canada for many years," he said. The two countries also plan to cooperate on liquefied natural gas, nuclear energy and critical minerals, as well as defense production, aerospace and artificial intelligence. On security, they cited Ukraine, the South Caucasus and the Middle East.
Carney is seeking new partners to reduce Canada's reliance on the United States, with which it is locked in a trade dispute over President Donald Trump's tariffs. "Our goal is not self-sufficiency; it is collective resilience," Carney said. He was due to meet Turkish business leaders in Istanbul afterwards.