Contradictory voice from the West: Why is Canadian Prime Minister Carney's visit to Türkiye important?

Journalist Emre Karaca wrote about the common points of the two countries in their search for global justice for AA Analysis within the framework of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Türkiye.

"For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the 'rules-based international order.' We participated in its institutions, praised its principles, benefited from its predictability. And so we were able to conduct value-based foreign policies under its protection. We knew that the story of the international rules-based order was partly a lie. We knew that the strongest exempted itself when it suited itself, that trade rules were applied asymmetrically, and that international law was applied with different rigor depending on the accused or the victim. In particular, American hegemony, open sea lanes, a stable financial The system provided public benefits such as collective security and conflict resolution frameworks. Let me be clear: We are experiencing a rupture, not a transition."

These words belong to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The speech he made at the Davos Economic Forum in January was a simple and honest narration of the developments taking place on the fragile ground of the global arena. The framework used was considered an unexpected manifesto from the Western world towards the international system. The repercussions were great. He built his speech on solid foundations, referencing the capacity of countries such as Canada, which he categorized as middle powers, to build a new order. He pointed out that especially the great powers use their economic advantages as leverage, and also emphasized the inadequacy of the problem-solving capacity of the institutions under the control of these countries.

It is no coincidence that Carney's speech soon hit social media and received a high level of coverage. The fact that the speech was made at a juncture where systemic crises were triggered, power gaps were formed, and the trivets of the new order after the Cold War were not clear, increased the value of this speech. However, what made the speech even more special was that it was expressed with a sense of self-criticism by the leader of a country fed by the Western bloc and its set of values.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Türkiye this week constitutes an important turning point in many aspects. This will be the first time a leader-level visit will be held on behalf of both countries. There are many topics on the table, such as nuclear cooperation opportunities, ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations (bilateral trade volume of 4.3 billion dollars), defense industry and pre-COP31 consultations, which can be seen as sub-headings of bilateral relations. In fact, Canada was one of the important import centers in Türkiye's defense industry before imposing sanctions in 2019. This practice began to erode with the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria and the emergence of the footprints of the age of uncertainty on a global scale. However, all eyes will be on this visit for a real white paper.

How did Canada's quest for autonomous politics begin?

The wave of excitement created by Canadian leader Carney in the international arena is not just an illusion or the result of a search brought about by the lack of a global leader. Carney took firm steps in his country and breathed new life into an economy and administration that had fallen into inertia. It is pointed out that Carney's approval rate as prime minister, who has only completed his 18-month term in office, has climbed to 70 percent. He has a career specialized in economics. Carney studied economics at Harvard and Oxford and has a doctorate in this field. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013. He managed his country's process during the 2008 economic crisis.

His next mission took place in rather exceptional circumstances. Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and is officially a member of King George III. With the contribution of accepting Charles as head of state, he served as Governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020). He became the first non-British president in the bank's history and managed the Brexit process. The responsibility taken by two different countries in times of crisis also provided him with a deep perspective in his criticism of the global system. Carney won the Liberal Party leadership by a landslide in March 2025, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He took office as the new prime minister of his country.

He took measures to rehabilitate the problems that had come to the fore in his predecessor's term, rescinding a major increase in the capital gains tax, lowering the lowest income tax rate, and enacting plans to cut federal spending. In its recent issue, Newsweek magazine pointed out that his actions were accepted socially and quoted former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as saying: "We all know what we have to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after doing it." He drew attention to its capacity to produce a result that contradicts his statement.

Pillars of the Canadian leader's new foreign policy architecture

Canada positioned itself as a middle-sized power in the international order established after the Second World War. From time to time, it has come to the fore as a balancing element in diplomatic relations between countries, has a limited capacity to influence, and is a country within the commercial and political sphere of influence of the United States. This asymmetrical dependence was reinforced with the free trade agreement signed with the USA in 1989.

Canada is trying to embody an autonomous architectural line with its recent steps. The search for diversification continues in order to reduce dependence on the USA in the field of defense. At this point, the order of Swedish-made Gripen warplanes is on the agenda. Canada has signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with the European Union (EU) and joined SAFE, Europe's defense procurement regulation.

Some sets of concepts are among the mainstays of the criticisms of the international system that we cited at the beginning of the article. The doctrine of "Values-Based Realism" refers to creating a balanced alternative to the status quo with a grounded political context. Carney described his approach as "principled in its commitment to core values ​​such as freedom, human rights, sustainability and solidarity, and pragmatic in recognizing that not every partner will share all of these values." He formulates it as: He conveyed these messages from the UN General Assembly rostrum in this way, pointing out a balanced but independent perspective as an antidote to the deadlock in the global system. He pointed out that there are no two options, that there is a line other than preserving the status quo and abandoning it. He stated that they introduced the concept of "variable geometry" to solve global problems. By marking common values ​​and interests as one end of the compass, he underlined that different coalitions can be established for different issues.

Intersecting paradigm lines of Canada and Türkiye

The similarities between Canadian Prime Minister Carney's new political language and discourse, which we have tried to summarize, and Türkiye's foreign policy agenda, make his visit to Ankara more meaningful. The harmony of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with the call for injustice that he has been putting forward for years at the United Nations General Assembly and embodied in the motto "The world is bigger than five" can also be observed in practice. Erdogan's reiteration of his call for the removal of the veto right of the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and his demand for the creation of a more comprehensive UN system scheme also point to a similar global path.

Canadian Prime Minister Carney's visit to Türkiye should be evaluated in a context independent of a late diplomatic contact between the two countries. At a turning point where the spiral of reactivated conflict in the world conjuncture recurs, two leaders from different continents offering similar formulas as solution proposals could serve as an example of a valuable safe exit route. In an architecture where regional alliances flourish, the expectation of global justice can be achieved not with short-term dressings, but with permanent and comprehensive diagnoses and practices.

The extent to which the values ​​that form the intellectual framework of institutions such as NATO, the UN and the EU can meet today's needs is now being discussed in different geographical basins. In the 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, whether the values ​​of "Western Civilization" would be exported to the world was a matter of debate in the important works of social scientists such as Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama. While these discussions had died down, they were brought to the agenda again, triggered by global developments. Middle powers have become a central topic of discussion more than ever. At a critical juncture, the game-changing foreign policy initiatives of countries such as Türkiye and Canada may point to the birth of a new system.