Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

have maintained diplomatic relations since 1943. Both countries are members of the G20,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, 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 a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

History

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

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that it would not partake in war with Turkey during the Chanak Crisis. First official contact between both nations took place in 1943 when the Turkish government informed

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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 is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, 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 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, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. 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 who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

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 served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

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 and journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for University—Rosedale (federal electoral district), University—Rose ...

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 the Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounding occupied territories. It was a major esca ...

, 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 West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, which is involved in military intervention in Yemen. In December 2024, Turkey eliminated visa requirements for Canadian tourists, a strategic move aimed at boosting tourism from Canada. This change marked a significant shift in Canada-Turkey relations, facilitating easier travel for Canadians and potentially increasing the number of visitors to Turkey.

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 the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

and Turkey violated the Canadian foreign policy and the end-use assurances given to Canada by it. Turkey said that this move will affect the bilateral relations and undermine alliance solidarity. In early 2024, Canada started to export arms to Turkey again.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Canada maintains an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. * Turkey maintains an embassy in

and consulates-general in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 cit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Turkey relations

Bilateral relations of Turkey

History

Trade

Arms

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References