Carney plans to visit Turkey this month, sources say
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sources → plan → Turkey
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to visit Turkey this month to meet President Tayyip Erdogan in what would be the first dedicated bilateral visit to the country by a Canadian leader, four sources with knowledge of the visit said.
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sources → plan → visit
One of the sources said Carney and Erdogan could discuss the free-trade talks they launched on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara in July, as well as potential energy and defense cooperation.
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they → say → July
Canadian and Turkish trade ministers agreed this week to accelerate the talks ahead of the leaders' meeting, two sources said.
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sources → agree → meeting
The visit would mark Carney's latest break with Canadian diplomatic convention as he seeks to reduce the country's reliance on the United States, by far its biggest trading partner, after a collapse in trade talks in August.
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he → mark → August
Carney has vowed to double Canada's non-US trade over the next decade and has rushed to establish ties with a host of countries, including China and India, with which it had past strains.
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it → vow → strains
He has focused less on human rights than his predecessors to forge ahead, backed by polls showing strong support among Canadians for his efforts to reinforce the economy in the face of US tariffs.
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He → focus → tariffs
Erdogan, Turkey's leader of 23 years — whom rights groups have criticized for a crackdown on the political opposition since 2024 — seeks new markets and collaboration for the regional military power's burgeoning defense industry.
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groups → criticize → industry
Erdogan says an independent judiciary is probing the opposition and rejects claims it is politically motivated.
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it → say → claims
Turkey, an emerging market economy whose biggest trading partner is the European Union, also seeks partnerships and investment in energy, infrastructure and mining.
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partner → emerge → energy
The sources did not share the dates or agenda of the visit planned later this month.
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sources → share → visit
Carney's office and Erdogan's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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office → respond → comment
LESS FOCUS ON RIGHTS
Western powers have grown relatively silent on Turkey's rights record as it has become a leading defense-industrial power and a bulwark against Russian aggression.
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it → grow → aggression
Since 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, but which has drawn sharp criticism from rights groups and some European officials.
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which → target → groups
No 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, including NATO and G20 summits hosted by Turkey.
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they → know → Turkey
At the NATO leaders' summit in July, Carney and Erdogan formally launched negotiations for a free-trade agreement.
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Carney → launch → agreement
That month, Turkey agreed to join Canada's Defence Security and Resilience Bank as one of 10 founding member nations of Carney's multilateral "middle powers" bank.
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Turkey → agree → bank
The two countries' trade ministers met in June and planned to expand cooperation on renewable and nuclear energy, a Canadian government statement said, listing aerospace, defense and security as areas of potential new partnerships.
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statement → meet → partnerships
Turkey has held talks with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis as well as South Korea's Korea Electric Power Corporation and China's State Power Investment Corporation about potentially building its second and third nuclear power plants, and Russia's Rosatom is building its first.
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Rosatom → hold → first
An executive at AtkinsRealis, which holds the exclusive license for Canadian-designed CANDU reactors, told Reuters this year that it anticipates Turkey will complete an early review of its CANDU reactors following an information exchange, which may lead to concrete talks for a plant bid.
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which → hold → bid
In a step that helped thaw bilateral ties in 2024, Canada removed weapons-export controls on Turkey, including on optical technology used in drones that Turkey exports to dozens of nations.
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Canada → help → nations
Turkey accounted for less than 0.3% of Canada's total merchandise trade in 2025, or C$4.34 billion ($3.05 billion), compared with C$1 trillion with the US, Statistics Canada data shows.
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data → account → US
Canada mainly exports lentils, aircraft and electronics to Turkey, and imports medical devices, fishing vessels, aircraft engines and jewelry.
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Canada → export → devices
The Aporia
