A Turkish official told Reuters on Monday that his country informed Canada that it will participate in the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank as a founding member.

Sources at the Turkish Defense Ministry said at the start of the week that Ankara is still assessing the possibility of participation in the bank, after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said during the NATO summit held in Ankara last week that nine countries, including Turkey, committed to joining the bank, in a step seen as a strong boost to multilateral efforts aimed at helping allied countries rearm.

The official added: "Turkey informed Canada that it will participate in the bank."

According to Carney's statement last week, Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine pledged to support the bank, which will be headquartered in Canada.

The list did not include any major G7 countries other than Canada, which could limit the bank's financial strength, but Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told Reuters that the bank will remain open to new members.

The bank's goal is to strengthen the defense of like-minded allied countries by raising up to 100 billion pounds sterling ($134 billion) in cheap financing.

Defense Bank

Canada said earlier this July that it aims, together with about 10 founding countries, to announce the establishment of a global defense bank during the NATO summit.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is promoting the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) initiative as part of his call this year for an alliance of 'middle powers' to confront what he sees as the fragmentation of the traditional U.S.-led world order.

Isabelle Hudon, Canada's lead negotiator for launching the multilateral initiative and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, said in an interview: "We set the NATO summit as our deadline... and what we hope to announce is the list of founding members."

The bank aims to enhance the defense capabilities of allied countries by providing low-cost financing of up to 100 billion pounds sterling ($133 billion).

Hudon added that the initial list of participating countries will likely include European countries alongside Canada, but she declined to name them.

She warned that the announcement is not yet certain, as it depends on completing final negotiations with allies, including the size of their capital contributions, but she affirmed that the project is gaining increasing momentum.