OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is returning to Turkiye later this month as he seeks to boost trade and defence ties with a country with rising importance. Carney was in Turkiye for the NATO summit in July, and his office says he will again visit the country from Oct. 21 to 23. His office says this will be the first bilateral visit to Turkiye by a Canadian prime minister. A press release from the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney will start in Ankara to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where talks will focus on energy and mining, climate, defence and security as well as interpersonal ties. Carney will then head to Istanbul to meet with Turkish business leaders and investors, focused on energy, aerospace, advanced technologies, and mining and critical minerals. The PMO statement said Turkiye is “an important partner” in diversification, given it is a G20 member and NATO ally. The visit comes amid rising criticism from LGBTQ2S+ groups over Canada’s decision not to join European peers in criticizing raids on Turkish organizations that advocate for minorities. Canada is negotiating a trade agreement with Turkiye, with bilateral trade increasing 50 per cent in the past five years and as Turkiye mulls buying Canadian nuclear-energy technology. Ottawa has finished its consultations on the free trade deal, but has yet to publish a summary of the feedback. In March, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said relations with Canada should be elevated to pursue mutual interests and global peace. That same month, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said both countries were sorting out “nomenclature” but that both “share a vision for an elevated bilateral relationship.” Fidan has echoed the Canadian government’s argument that Europe should complement the military alliance without duplicating the work of NATO. Global Affairs Canada’s online profile of Turkiye calls it “an emerging market of broad interest to Canada,” with opportunities for Canadian companies in sectors such as agriculture, life sciences, mining and infrastructure. Turkiye has helped Canadians evacuate from various Middle East crises. The country has also taken on more strategic heft in recent years, such as with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. The bilateral relationship has experienced tensions, especially over Canada’s large Armenian diaspora. Canada at times has barred military exports to Turkiye, saying they had been used by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh ethnic conflict. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
