Reuters. President Tayyip Erdogan hailed the Turkey's new "strategic partnership" with NATO ally Canada on Thursday (October 22) as Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Ankara.
Carney's trip - the first such visit for a Canadian leader - comes as Ottawa seeks to expand trade partners and reduce reliance on the United States.
The new partnership focuses on trade and investment, defence and security, energy, and people-to-people ties and would aim to create jobs and boost opportunities for Canadian and Turkish companies to do more business together.
Canadian and Turkish ministers signed agreements on cooperation in energy, defence and air transport before Erdogan and Carney spoke to reporters.
The Candian PM is on a global trade blitz that he hopes will help buffer Canada from a trade war with the US, where President Donald Trump has applied sweeping tariffs and questioned the neighbouring country's sovereignty.
NATO member Turkey is seeking new investment and collaboration for its burgeoning defence industry, new nuclear power plants and mining sector.
Praising Carney as a leader with "common-sense and acumen" on the world political stage, Erdogan said the two countries took a historic step on Thursday to deepen their cooperation.
"Today, we have alleviated the long-standing Turkey-Canada disconnect. Now, we are starting a new era between Turkey and Canada," Erdogan said, adding that the two sides expected to raise their trade volume to $5 billion first and then to $10 billion, from the current $3 billion.
A Turkish diplomatic source said Canadian and Turkish energy ministers would work on areas such as nuclear energy, critical minerals, and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
