Carney plans first standalone Canadian PM visit to Turkey this month, sources say

Right · 2Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to visit Turkey this month to meet President Tayyip Erdogan, four sources with knowledge of the visit told Reuters. 1 2 Right · 2No Canadian prime minister is known to have made a standalone bilateral visit to Turkey in recent decades, though they have met Erdogan and other Turkish leaders on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings such as NATO and G20 summits. 1 2 Right · 2The sources did not share the dates or agenda, and the offices of Carney and Erdogan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 1 2

Right · 2One source said the two leaders could discuss the free-trade talks they launched on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara in July, and possible energy and defence cooperation; two sources said the countries' trade ministers agreed this week to accelerate those talks ahead of the meeting. 1 2 Right · 2Reuters describes the visit as Carney's latest break with Canadian diplomatic convention as he tries to cut reliance on the United States, Canada's biggest trading partner, after trade talks collapsed in August; Carney has vowed to double non-US trade over the next decade and has courted countries including China and India. 1 2 Right · 1Reuters says Carney has focused less on human rights than his predecessors, backed by polls showing strong Canadian support for his efforts to strengthen the economy against US tariffs. 1

Right · 2Rights groups have criticised Erdogan, Turkey's leader of 23 years, for a crackdown on the political opposition since 2024; he says an independent judiciary is probing the opposition and rejects claims it is politically motivated. 1 2 Right · 2Since last month a wave of arrests and restrictions has targeted Turkey's LGBTQ+ community in a probe the government says aims to protect children and family values; rights groups and some European officials have sharply criticised it, and Western powers have grown relatively silent on Turkey's rights record. 1 2 Right · 1Turkey seeks new markets and collaboration for its defence industry, plus investment in energy, infrastructure and mining. 1

Right · 2At the July NATO summit the leaders formally launched free-trade negotiations, and Turkey agreed to become one of 10 founding members of Canada's Defence Security and Resilience Bank, Carney's "middle powers" bank. 1 2 Right · 1Trade ministers met in June and planned to expand cooperation on renewable and nuclear energy, per a Canadian government statement that also listed aerospace, defence and security; Turkey has held talks with AtkinsRealis, holder of the CANDU reactor licence, as well as Korean and Chinese firms about its second and third nuclear plants, while Russia's Rosatom builds its first. 1 Right · 2Canada removed weapons-export controls on Turkey in 2024, a step that helped thaw ties. Bilateral trade is small: Turkey made up under 0.3% of Canada's 2025 merchandise trade, C$4.34 billion, against C$1 trillion with the US. 1 2