ANKARA/TORONTO -- NATO allies Canada and Turkiye are expected to sign a joint declaration aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation in four areas, including defence and energy, during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit later this week, a person briefed on the matter said. The declaration is also expected to encompass the economy, looking to advance free trade talks between the countries, while boosting social and diplomatic ties. The countries would establish committees in all of the areas to draft action plans, the person said. Carney’s office and Turkiye’s presidency and Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Carney will be the first Canadian prime minister to make a dedicated bilateral visit to Turkiye. He is set to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday and is expected to meet with Turkish business leaders in Istanbul on Friday. The visit is part of Carney’s efforts to reduce trade dependence on the United States and strengthen partnerships with regional powers amid a damaging trade war with Washington and an increasingly adversarial relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned Canada’s sovereignty. Talks may include nuclear power, LNG Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the Kanal 7 broadcaster on Sunday that energy, namely nuclear power, would be among the top agenda items during Carney’s visit. Ankara anticipates that energy discussions will also include potential purchases by Turkiye of liquefied natural gas from Canada as well as critical minerals, the person said. A working group is expected to be created to study the feasibility of a bid by Canada’s CANDU to build a planned nuclear plant on Turkiye’s Black Sea coast. Turkiye has held talks with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis, which owns CANDU, as well as South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation and China’s State Power Investment Corporation, about potentially building its planned second and third nuclear power plants. Russia’s Rosatom is building its first. The discussions on the defence sector are expected to focus on drones and naval cooperation. In 2024, to help thaw bilateral ties, Canada removed weapons-export controls on Turkiye, including on optical technology used in drones that Turkiye exports to dozens of nations. Carney is also expected to meet with officials from defence companies as well as firms with energy businesses during his visit to Turkiye, including Calik Holding and Sabanci Holding, according to two other people familiar with the plans. Sabanci Holding declined to comment while Calik Holding did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Turkish defence analysts said Trump’s policies towards Canada had created opportunities for closer cooperation in ammunition production, drones and naval systems, but cautioned that major agreements were unlikely to materialize in the short term. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara and Jonathan Spicer in Toronto; Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay, Maria Cheng in Ottawa, Can Sezer and Ebru Tuncay in Istanbul and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Daren Butler and Rod Nickel)
