Turkey has informed Canada that it will join a new global defense financing bank as a founding member, reversing a decision announced days earlier to withhold its commitment, a Turkish official told Reuters on Monday.
The official said Ankara had notified Ottawa that it would participate in the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) but did not explain what prompted the change.
The decision is the third position attributed to Turkey since the bank was unveiled during last week’s NATO summit in Ankara.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on July 7 that Turkey was among nine countries whose leaders had declared a shared intention to establish the bank.
Turkish officials then said after consultations involving the Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Treasury and Finance Ministry and Presidency of the Defense Industry that Ankara was not ready to commit at that stage.
The Defense Ministry maintained over the weekend that Turkey was still evaluating participation.
Canada’s declaration named Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine along with Canada as the participating countries and called for domestic ratification so the bank could begin operating as early as 2027.
The DSRB would use the credit strength of member governments to raise as much as £100 billion ($134 billion) for lower cost loans and guarantees supporting defense production, supply chains, cybersecurity and infrastructure.
The proposed institution is not a NATO body, although it was launched during the alliance’s summit and is intended to help allied countries expand military production amid the war in Ukraine and tensions with Russia and China.
The absence of other G7 countries could limit the bank’s financial capacity, but Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand has said membership will remain open.