Prime Minister Mark Carney is traveling to Turkiye this month for a first-of-its-kind bilateral meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan. The visit focuses on expanding defense, energy, and free trade partnerships.
The C$1 Trillion Shadow and the Quest for Non-U.S. Trade
Prime Minister Mark Carney is attempting to aggressively diversify Canada's economic dependencies following a collapse in trade negotiations with the United States in August. According to the report, Canada's trade with the U.S. stands at a staggering C$1 trillion, while merchandise trade with Turkiye accounted for less than 0.3 per cent of Canada's total in 2025, totaling C$4.34 billion.
The current administration has set an ambitious goal to double Canada's non-U.S. trade over the next ten years. To achievve this, Mark Carney has prioritized establishing ties with nations like India and China, despite previous diplomatic tensions. This shift suggests a pragmatic pivot where economic resilience is prioritized over the ideological frictions that hampered previous Canadian governments.
From Drone Optics to the Defense Security and Resilience Bank
Defense cooperation has become a primary pillar of the relationship between Ottawa and Ankara. As the source reported, Canada recently removed weapons-export controls on Turkiye, specifically allowing the export of optical technology used in Turkish drones, which are sold to dozens of other nations.
Further cementing this military-industrial bond, Turkiye has joined Canada's Defense Security and Resilience Bank as one of ten founding member nations. this multilateral "middle powers" bank, championed by Mark Carney, aims to create a security infrastructure that operates independently of the traditional superpowers, positioning Turkiye as a key regional military partner for Canada.
AtkinsRealis and the Race for Turkiye's Second Nuclear Plant
Energy infrastructure represents a high-stakes commercial opportunity for Canadian engineering. The firm AtkinsRealis, which holds the exclusive license for Canadian-designed CANDU reactors, is currently in a competitive race to secure a bid for Turkiye's second and third nuclear power plants.
Turkiye is currently diversifying its energy portfolio, with Russia's Rosatom already building the country's first plant. According to the report, Turkiye has held discussions with AtkinsRealis alongside competitors from South Korea's Korea Electric Power Corporation and China's State Power Investment Corporation. An executive at AtkinsRealis indicated that an early review of CANDU reactors is expected to conclude soon, potentially leading to a formal bid.
The Cost of Commerce: Ignoring the 2024 Crackdown and LGBTQ+ Arrests
The diplomatic thaw comes despite a deteriorating human rights record under President Tayyip Erdogan, who has led Turkiye for 23 years. Rights groups have heavily criticized a crackdown on political opposition that intensified in 2024, as well as a recent wave of arrests targeting the LGBTQ+ community under the guise of protecting "family values."
Mark Carney appears to be adopting a policy of strategic silence regarding these internal Turkish affairs to ensure the success of free trade talks launched in July during a NATO summit in Ankara. This approach mirrors a broader trend among Western powers who view Turkiye as an essential bulwark against Russian aggression and a burgeoning defense-industrial power.
The Silence from the Offices of Mark Carney and Tayyip Erdogan
Despite the reported urgency of the trip , significant details remain unconfirmed. Neither the office of Prime Minister Mark Carney nor the office of President Tayyip Erdogan has responded to requests for comment regarding the specific dates or the final agenda of the visit.
It remains unclear exactly which sectors will be prioritized in the accelerated free trade talks agreed upon by the trade ministers this week. Furthermore, the source only presents the government's perspective on the LGBTQ+ probe, leaving the specific legal justifications and the scale of the arrests largely unverified by independent Canadian or Turkish judicial sources.
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