Canadian–Turkish relations are foreign relations between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Both countries are members of the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

History

The first Turkish migrants arrived to Canada in the late 19th century from what was then the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1922, soon after obtaining its independence, Canada issued its first foreign policy mandate to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

that it would not partake in war with Turkey during the

Chanak Crisis The Chanak Crisis ( tr, Çanakkale Krizi), also called the Chanak Affair and the Chanak Incident, was a war scare in September 1922 between the United Kingdom and the Government of the Grand National Assembly in Turkey. ''Chanak'' refers to Ça ...

. First official contact between both nations took place in 1943 when the Turkish government informed

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

of its intent to open a resident embassy, which was opened in 1944.Relations Between Turkey and Canada
/ref> Canada followed suit in 1947 by opening an embassy in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, relations between both nations evolved mainly around military and security cooperation within the framework of

. In March 1985, three members of the

Armenian Revolutionary Army The Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA) (in Armenian Հայ Յեղափոխական Բանակ (ՀՅԲ) - pronounced Hay Heghabokhakan Banak) was an Armenian militant organization that attacked at least 7 times resulting in at least 6 fatalities and 8 ...

attacked the Turkish embassy in Ottawa and held the Ambassador and several other people within the embassy hostage. The attackers wanted Turkey to acknowledge the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

. After four hours, the hostages were released unharmed and the armed men were taken into police custody. This was the third assault on Turkish diplomatic staff in Ottawa by Armenian attackers in three years. In 2004, the Canadian Parliament formally recognized the Armenian Genocide. Canada's recognition has had an adverse effect on the bilateral relations between the two countries. There have been numerous high-level visits between leaders of both nations. In June 2010, Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

paid a visit to Canada to attend the G20 Summit in Toronto. In November 2015, Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

paid a visit to Turkey to attend the G20 Summit in Antalya. In June 2019, Canada and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a Joint Economic and Trade Committee, with a view to holding annual meetings between Canadian and Turkish officials and businesses to expand bilateral trade and investment opportunities. On 9 October 2019, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Chrystia Freeland Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician serving as the tenth and current deputy prime minister of Canada since 2019 and the Minister of Finance (Canada), minister of finance since 2020. A member of the Libe ...

stated that Canada "firmly condemns" Turkey's military offensive into north-eastern Syria. During the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...

, Canada has taken a neutral stance, while Turkey openly supported Azerbaijan. However, after Canadian military technology was found to be used by the Azerbaijani military attacking civilians, Canada suspended export to Azerbaijan, prompting criticism against Canada by Turkey. Relations between Turkey and Canada have started to be strained since 2019 after Turkish intervention in Syria. Turkey accused Canada of "double standard" in freezing military exports to Turkey but not

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, which is involved in military intervention in Yemen.

Trade

In 2019, trade between both nations totaled US$2.4 billion. Over 350 Canadian companies have investments in Turkey, mostly in the fields of energy, mining, information technology and infrastructure.

Arms

In 2019, Canada decided to block arms exports because Turkey used Canadian arms in the Turkish operations in Syria, but later the restrictions eased. Canada reimposed the restrictions in 2021 after it was found that Canadian technology and arms which were exported to Turkey used in the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...

and Turkey violated the Canadian foreign policy and the end-use assurances given to Canada by her. Turkey said that this move will affect the bilateral relations and undermine alliance solidarity.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Canada has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. * Turkey has an embassy in

and consulates-general in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. File:Embassy of Canada in Ankara 02.JPG, Embassy of Canada in Ankara File:Turkey, Ottawa.JPG, Embassy of Turkey in Ottawa

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Turkey relations

Bilateral relations of Turkey

History

Trade

Arms

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References