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Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defense procurement, speaks during an ice breaker steel cutting ceremony at Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 20, 2025. (Markku Ulander\/Lehtikuva\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\nISTANBUL \u2014 Canada is seeking a rapid expansion of defense and industrial ties with Turkey as Ottawa looks for trusted middle-power partners amid shifting global security dynamics, Canadian Secretary of State for Defense Procurement Stephen Fuhr said during SAHA Expo 2026.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Defense News during his first visit to Turkey, Fuhr described Ankara as a \u201ctrusted partner\u201d and \u201cvaluable ally,\u201d highlighting Turkish advances in drones, counter-drone systems, ammunition production and autonomous technologies as potential areas for future cooperation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe middle powers have to come together in a way they didn\u2019t before,\u201d said Fuhr, reflecting the Canadian political drive to establish new cooperation between the middle powers, as the United States steps back from its traditional role in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndividually we\u2019re just not big enough, but collectively we are,\u201d Fuhr said.<\/p>\n
Alliances between middle powers are not always smooth. Between 2019 and January 2024, Canada imposed restrictions on arms sales to Turkey and cancelled a number of export permits, creating a de-facto weapons embargo. When asked about whether the embargo was politically worth it, Fuhr stressed that he was elected in 2025 and stated that Canada is focused on the future.<\/p>\n
Fuhr noted that during his meetings in Turkey, officials on both sides had prioritized practical collaboration and strategic alignment instead of revisiting earlier disputes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody\u2019s raised any past information or anything that\u2019s happened in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone is focused on responding to the moment and how we can work together moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defense procurement, speaks during an ice breaker steel cutting ceremony at Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 20, 2025. (Markku Ulander\/Lehtikuva\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Canadian official also pointed to upcoming high-level political engagement between the two countries, including planned visits by Prime Minister Mark Carney and current discussions surrounding a possible free trade agreement.<\/p>\n
Ottawa does not have the luxury of wasting time to accelerate defense production and procurement. Central to Canada\u2019s ambition to expand its defense industrial capacity is the newly accepted Defence Industrial Strategy and the creation of a new Defence Investment Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur strategy is build, partner, buy,\u201d Fuhr said. \u201cIf it\u2019s urgent, we\u2019ll probably have to go and buy it. If it\u2019s something they can wait for, we\u2019ll have to co-develop it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister stressed that Ottawa wants partnerships that help stimulate Canadian industry rather than relying solely on direct foreign procurement.<\/p>\n
Fuhr said Turkey\u2019s experience in developing an indigenous defense industrial base offered lessons for Ottawa, particularly in areas where Ankara has achieved rapid technological growth and supply-chain independence. He described Turkey as one of a small number of countries that have successfully developed a mature and largely independent defense industrial ecosystem, comparing Ankara\u2019s progress to that of South Korea and France.<\/p>\n
There are several sectors where Canada and Turkey could develop capabilities more rapidly. \u201cAmmo production is one, drones, counter drones, those are pretty obvious places,\u201d Fuhr said. He also suggested future cooperation could include co-development programs rather than simple off-the-shelf purchases, particularly in areas where Canada seeks faster capability growth without starting entirely from scratch.<\/p>\n
Ottawa\u2019s interest is not limited to procurement opportunities. Fuhr described Canada as a stable and reliable investment destination, highlighting the country\u2019s financial system, investment climate and policies aimed at encouraging foreign direct investment.<\/p>\n
The Canadian efforts in building a broader relationship with Turkey have already started to bear fruit. The Strategic and Unmanned Systems Research Center (S\u0130SAM) of local Sefine Shipyard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canada-based Kraken Robotics during the Saha Expo 2026 here this month. As part of the agreement, Kraken will work with S\u0130SAM to integrate the KATFISH towed synthetic aperture sonar system into its mission planning software and develop automatic target recognition capabilities.<\/p>\n
Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ISTANBUL \u2014 Canada is seeking a rapid expansion of defense and industrial ties with Turkey as Ottawa looks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,7131,733,7132,7128,586,691,1197],"class_list":["post-40581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-circulated-defense-news","tag-defense-spending","tag-defense-news","tag-dn-dnr","tag-europe","tag-nato","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}