Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's two-day visit to Türkiye officially began on Thursday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a warm welcome to the premier at the Presidential Complex as the two men eye starting a new chapter between their distant countries.

Erdoğan and Carney were scheduled to sign a series of deals in various fields later on Thursday.

This is the first bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister to Türkiye, though Carney is no stranger to Ankara. He traveled in July to attend the NATO summit of heads of state and government. After talks in Ankara, Carney will leave for commercial hub Istanbul to attend business events as the two countries seek to deepen trade ties.

The Canadian prime minister has sought to diversify partnerships and reduce reliance on the United States amid an escalating trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, marked by U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, retaliatory measures by Canada and statements questioning Canadian sovereignty.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA) earlier this week, Canada's Ambassador to Türkiye Marcel Lebleu said this week that the visit's main purpose was to "launch a strategic partnership through a joint declaration by the two leaders."

Talks would focus on cooperation in energy, nuclear plants, sustainable mining and the defense industry.

The two countries would also hold negotiations on a free trade agreement, he said.

Türkiye is looking to build a second nuclear power plant on the Black Sea coast, in addition to one currently being built by Russia's Rosatom on the Mediterranean coast.

In a sign of improving ties, Canada lifted its ban on the export of weapons to Türkiye in 2024. It had imposed the restrictions following Türkiye’s military operations into Syria and over Türkiye’s support for Azerbaijan in the war for liberation of Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenian separatists, including providing equipment that used Canadian-made parts.

A statement from Carney's office said two-way trade between Türkiye and Canada increased by 50% in the past five years. It said that during the visit, Carney will emphasize opportunities "to expand that growing trade relationship in priority sectors, including energy, aerospace, advanced technologies, and mining and critical minerals."

Although trade between ⁠Canada ⁠and Türkiye is tiny (Türkiye accounted for less than 0.3% of Canada's total merchandise trade or CA$4.34 billion ($3.09 billion)), bilateral trade has risen by nearly 50% in the past five years.

"This trip is part of the geopolitical necessity of signaling to Americans that we are not sitting around waiting for them," said Bessma Momani, professor of political science at the University of Waterloo.

In the last year, Canada has signed more than 20 trade deals as part of Carney's push to double non-U.S. exports in the next decade. He flew to Beijing in January to reset fractured relations with China, striking a deal that slashed tariffs on electric vehicles and canola.

Despite criticism ⁠that China is a security risk, given Canadian authorities previously found China had interfered in at least two federal elections, Carney has described China as a "more predictable" trading partner than the U.S.

However, Canada still sends nearly 70% of exports to the U.S.

At the NATO leaders' summit, Carney and Erdoğan launched ‌negotiations for a free-trade agreement, where Türkiye also agreed to join Canada's Defence, Security and Resilience Bank as a founding member.

Türkiye has held talks ​with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis 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.

Canada mainly exports lentils, optical devices, aerospace products and electronics to Türkiye while Türkiye mostly exports iron and steel, machinery, fruits and dried fruits to Canada.