The visit of Prime Minister Mark Carney to Ankara on October 22–23, 2026, went far beyond a routine official visit, taking on profound significance as Canada—one of the Western world’s cornerstone nations—signed a “strategic partnership” agreement with Türkiye.
Spanning 9,984,670 square kilometers, Canada is the world’s second-largest country by total area after Russia. With a population of 41 million and a GDP of approximately $2.5 trillion, it is an advanced G7 economy ranking among the top ten globally. Furthermore, Canada is one of the 12 founding members of NATO established in 1949, and alongside the United States, one of the alliance’s two North American members.
Why Did Canada Seek a Strategic Partnership with Türkiye?
The Canadian Prime Minister explained the motivations behind this major Western nation seeking a strategic partnership with Türkiye during a joint press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan:
“We are right in the middle of a rupture today. The old world order is not coming back. The institutions that have ensured our security and prosperity for decades are under threat. We are making our own investments to become the masters of our own future.”
Stating that “no country can build power on its own,” the Prime Minister added: “The most resilient countries bring together complementary strengths with reliable partners. Our goal is not self-sufficiency, but collective resilience. That is why Canada is forging deeper partnerships with reliable partners that create new opportunities for Canadians.”
Describing Türkiye as a trusted partner, he noted: “Türkiye is a very dynamic partner. It possesses NATO’s second-largest armed forces and a rapidly developing, highly innovative defense industry. Türkiye plays a crucial role in resolving complex conflicts across different regions of the world,” thereby highlighting Türkiye’s strategic autonomy, dynamism, and capacity to generate solutions.
Agreements Concluded
Announcing that “today we are initiating the process to elevate our relations to the level of a Strategic Partnership,” Carney emphasized that the strategic partnership rests upon three pillars:
- Free Trade: Accelerating contacts for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
- Finance and Cooperation: Export Development Canada (EDC) and Türk Eximbank will undertake joint operations to bring our business sectors closer together.
- Transportation: Increasing direct flights between the two countries from 12 to 21 flights per week.
As a result of the visit, bilateral relations between Türkiye and Canada were officially upgraded to a Strategic Partnership, and new memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements strengthening cooperation were signed.
The agreements elevating bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership include:
- Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
- Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation
- Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO)
- Defense Industry Memorandum of Understanding
- Joint Declaration on Cooperation in the Energy Sector
- Air Transportation Agreement
Through these agreements, ties between Turkish and Canadian defense companies will be strengthened; cooperation will be fostered in areas such as nuclear energy, LNG, and critical minerals; and the current trade volume will initially be targeted to reach $5 billion, followed by $10 billion.
Reasons Behind Canada’s Search for Non-Western Strategic Partners
Prime Minister Carney’s emphasis that “the old world will not return” is an outward expression of Canada’s realization that the Western world—including the United States—has entered a severe period of decline, serving as the rationale for its pursuit of non-Western strategic partners. The collapse of the global institutions that sustained the post-Cold War Western-hegemonic world order, coupled with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to absorb the country as the “51st state” (given Canada’s heavy economic and foreign policy dependence on the U.S.), prompted Ottawa to adopt a strategy of “not relying on a single ally or a single market” and to seek powerful alternative partners.
With the U.S. accounting for roughly 75% to 80% of Canada’s exports and over 50% of its imports, Canada remains heavily dependent on the U.S. in every respect. Seeking to reduce this vulnerability and act more autonomously in the multipolar new world, Canada has sought to diversify its economic and strategic risks by establishing direct, independent ties with rising regional powers.
As Prime Minister Carney stated, “We are in the middle of a rupture.” These global shifts have forced the Canadian government to reconsider its traditional foreign policy and alliances. Seeking to “be the master of its own future,” Canada has turned to Türkiye as a strategic partner, driven by several decisive factors. These include Türkiye’s possession of NATO’s second-largest land army, its rapidly developing and innovative domestic defense industry, and its pursuit of a balanced and independent foreign policy that bridges East and West. Through its diplomatic initiatives and deterrent capabilities, Türkiye has consolidated its position as a key actor in resolving complex conflicts in regions such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Ankara is recognized as an influential state that pursues its own autonomous policies within the Organization of Turkic States and the Middle East. Its central role in the establishment of institutions aimed at the defense of the Islamic world—such as the recently implemented Mecca Defense Alliance and the Badr Agreement—is being closely monitored.
The Canada-Türkiye Strategic Partnership as a Model
Through the signed Strategic Partnership document, both Canada and Türkiye have converged on the strategy of “not remaining dependent on a single center” and declared their determination to deepen their partnership. This new model is built upon creating a flexible, functional, and multi-centered global network rather than rigid hierarchical alliances operating on Cold War logic.
Despite having no land border and lying over 8,500 kilometers apart, the establishment of this partnership demonstrates that in the New World Order, countries must collaborate not only with immediate neighbors but also with distant partners to expand their spheres of influence. In contemporary global politics, “geographic proximity” has given way to “strategic and technological complementarity.”
This novel type of “strategic partnership” developed between Türkiye and Canada signals the end of the Cold War-era mindset of “rigid bloc alignment bowing to a great power,” giving way to an era of “flexible, multi-centered, and technology/energy-focused win-win partnerships centered on economic independence.” This partnership can serve as a robust model for numerous countries seeking bilateral alliances in the 21st-century multipolar world order. Countries such as Mexico, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom—which remain economically or security-dependent on the U.S. and experience the impositions and vulnerabilities of relying on a single center—can look to this partnership as a blueprint.
Following Canada, a deep strategic partnership between Japan and Türkiye could also come onto the agenda by the end of the year. Japan, a U.S. partner, is deeply concerned that Washington’s return to isolationism under the “America First” slogan could leave Tokyo isolated against China and lead the U.S. to abandon the region. Japan has no choice but to secure its own strategic autonomy and forge alliances with rising new powers.
Conclusion
The collapse of the USSR and the overnight dissolution of the Warsaw Pact stand as historical proof of how suddenly hegemonic systems can face ruin from internal decay, no matter how solid they appear from the outside. The same fate awaits U.S. hegemony in the unipolar world.
The moment the hegemon’s “protective umbrella” loses its credibility, mass defections will begin as the cost of remaining its ally grows too heavy. America’s war with Iran has clearly exposed both the weakening of its military capacity and its inability to provide protection to its allies; its most effective weapon has been reduced to mere threats.
Global politics is undergoing a historical transition where the unipolar Western hegemony established after the Cold War and its traditional institutional structures are losing ground. Institutional structures of the West-centric hegemonic system—such as the UN Security Council, NATO, and the EU—have lost credibility, and major states are struggling to survive under trillions of dollars in debt stock. A financial crisis triggered by the U.S. dollar losing its global reserve currency status and the erosion of faith in global debt mechanisms could collapse the entire system.
Today, Canada’s declaration that the Old World and its institutions have collapsed, its search for alternatives against U.S. pressure to secure its autonomy, and Türkiye’s establishment of its own defense axis alongside alliances rapidly developed regionally and afar all point to the approach of this moment of collapse.
In short, the Canada-Türkiye strategic partnership offers a novel alliance model based on common interests for states seeking strategic autonomy within the New World Order.
*This article was published on sde.org.tr on October 24, 2026.