The key facts

  • First official visit by a head of the Canadian government to Turkey: Mark Carney will visit Ankara on October 21–23 with ministers Anita Anand and Tim Hodgson.
  • A joint declaration on strategic partnership, an action plan on energy, defence and the nuclear sphere, the start of free trade negotiations in November, and an air transport agreement are planned.
  • EDC and Türk Eximbank will sign a cooperation agreement; Canada will send about 200 delegates to COP31 in Antalya in November.

The visit as the start of a new partnership

The visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Turkey on October 21–23 will be 'the start of new strategic relations' between the countries, said Canada's Ambassador to Ankara Marcel Leble in an interview with Anadolu. According to him, this will be the first official visit by a head of the Canadian government to Turkey, and no Turkish president has previously made a state visit to Canada. Leble, who took up the post in September, noted that both Erdogan and Carney share this vision, and the two have already met twice. 'Turkey is a country in which we need to invest more. I am not talking about economic investments, but about investing in our relations,' the diplomat said.

Energy, defence and the nuclear agenda

The main goal of the visit is the formal launch of a strategic partnership through a joint declaration by the leaders, as well as the development of an action plan. Key priorities are energy, nuclear cooperation, sustainable mining and the defence industry. 'Canada has a lot of gas. We need to see how this could work,' the ambassador noted. Assessing the potential of defence cooperation, he spoke about visits to ASELSAN and BAYKAR: 'I was impressed. They have 10,000 engineers. The average age of BAYKAR employees is 29.'

Free trade and air transport

In November, as previously announced, negotiations on a free trade agreement between Turkey and Canada will begin. The parties will also sign an air transport agreement: the existing arrangement has already increased the number of weekly flights to 21. The flights connect Istanbul with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, mostly operated by Turkish Airlines; on October 29, Canada's Air Transat will open a Montreal–Istanbul route. Carney is accompanied by Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, as well as the head of Export Development Canada, who will sign a cooperation agreement with Türk Eximbank for joint work by Canadian and Turkish companies in the markets of the Middle East and Africa. 'Sovereignty does not mean doing everything alone,' Leble emphasized. Canada also plans to send a delegation of about 200 people to COP31, which Turkey will host in Antalya in November.

The Middle East and the ambassador's personal impressions

Touching on the Middle East topic, Leble said: 'Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorism, and we condemn Hamas. But at the same time, Palestinians must be recognized.' Canada recognized Palestine in 2025 and supports the two-state solution; citing the September statement by the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada on the illegality of settlements in the occupied territories, the ambassador said that Ottawa 'is pressuring the Israeli government to back down.' He called the humanitarian situation dire; since the start of the conflict, Canada has allocated 500 million Canadian dollars through UN agencies and in October announced an additional 100 million. The embassy flag is flying at half-mast due to the fire at the military base in Wainwright, Alberta, which claimed the lives of four servicemen. Leble, who previously worked in Senegal, Colombia and Chile, is studying Turkish — it will become his fourth language; his favourite expression, he said, is 'mashallah.'