Romania–Turkey relations

Romanian–Turkish relations are foreign relations between Romania and Turkey. The two countries maintain longstanding historical, geographic, and cultural relations. Romania has an embassy in Ankara and two consulates-general in Istanbul and İzmir. Romania also has four honorary consulates in Turkey in İskenderun, Edirne, Trabzon and Eskişehir. Romania also has a cultural institute The Romanian Cultural Institute "Dimitrie Cantemir". Turkey has an embassy in Bucharest and a consulate-general in Constanţa. Turkey also has two honorary consulates in Cluj-Napoca and Iași. Both countries are full members of NATO, the BLACKSEAFOR and BSEC.

History
Turkic settlement has a long history in the Dobruja region, various groups such as Bulgars, Pechenegs, Cumans and Turkmen settling in the region between the 7th and 13th centuries, and probably contributing to the formation of a Christian autonomous polity in the 14th century.

The existence of a strictly Turkish population in the territories of modern Romania can possibly be tracked down to the 13th century. In 1243, the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia (most of modern Turkey) were defeated by the Mongols in the Battle of Kösedağ. The Mongols subordinated the Seljuk Turks and divided their lands between two brothers, Kilij Arslan IV and Kaykaus II. Kaykaus II, having been forced to obey his brother, opposed this, for which he had to leave Anatolia together with a large group of partisans and look for refuge in the Byzantine Empire. He and his partisans were settled by Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in a region between Varna and the Danube Delta which is known as Dobruja today. Later, Kaykaus II would attempt an unsuccessful rebellion in the Byzantine Empire and went into exile in Crimea, but his partisans remained in Dobruja and he would be succeeded as leader by Sarı Saltık. In 1307, some of the Dobrujan Seljuk Turks would return to Anatolia. Nevertheless, some would stay in the area, and while they kept their language, they would convert to Christianity. It has been suggested that these Seljuk Turks eventually evolved into the modern Gagauz people, the name of which would supposedly come from Kaykaus II.

Another important event in the history of the Turkish population in Romania was the Ottoman conquest of the region in the early 15th century. Hence, by the 17th century most of the settlements in Dobruja had Turkish names, either due to colonisations or through assimilation of the Islamised pre-Ottoman Turkic populations. In the nineteenth century, Turks and Tatars were more numerous in Dobruja than the Romanians. Northern Dobruja region was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1420, the region remained under Ottoman control until the late 19th century. Initially, it was organised as an u dj  (border province), included in the sanjak of Silistra, part of the Eyalet of Rumelia. Later, under Murad II or Suleiman I, the sanjak of Silistra and surrounding territories were organised as a separate eyalet. In 1555, a revolt led by the "false" (düzme) Mustafa, a pretender to the Turkish throne, broke out against Ottoman administration in Rumelia and rapidly spread to Dobruja, but was repressed by the beylerbey of Nigbolu. In 1603 and 1612, the region suffered from the forays of Cossacks, who burnt down Isaķči and plundered Küstendje.

In the two Danubian Principalities, Ottoman suzerainty had an overall reduced impact on the local population, and the impact of Islam was itself much reduced. Wallachia and Moldavia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy, and their history was punctuated by episodes of revolt and momentary independence. After 1417, when Ottoman domination over Wallachia first became effective, the towns of Turnu and Giurgiu were annexed as kazas, a rule enforced until the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 (the status was briefly extended to Brăila in 1542).

For the following centuries, three conversions in the ranks of acting or former local hospodars are documented: Wallachian Princes Radu cel Frumos (1462–1475) and Mihnea Turcitul (1577–1591), and Moldavian Prince Ilie II Rareș (1546–1551). At the other end of the social spectrum, Moldavia held a sizable population of Tatar slaves, who shared this status with all local Roma people (see Slavery in Romania). While Roma slavery also existed in Wallachia, the presence of Tatar slaves there has not been documented, and is only theorized. The population may have foremost comprised Muslim Nogais from the Budjak who were captured in skirmishes, although, according to one theory, the first of them may have been Cumans captured long before the first Ottoman and Tatar incursions.

The issue of Ottoman presence on the territory of the two countries is often viewed in relation to the relations between the Ottoman Sultans and local Princes. Romanian historiography has generally claimed that the latter two were bound by bilateral treaties with the Porte. One of the main issues was that of Capitulations (Ottoman Turkish: ahdnâme), which were supposedly agreed between the two states and the Ottoman Empire at some point in the Middle Ages. Such documents have not been preserved: modern Romanian historians have revealed that Capitulations, as invoked in the 18th and 19th centuries to invoke Romanian rights vis à vis the Ottomans, and as reclaimed by nationalist discourse in the 20th century, were forgeries. Traditionally, Ottoman documents referring to Wallachia and Moldavia were unilateral decrees issued by the Sultan. In one compromise version published in 1993, Romanian historian Mihai Maxim argues that, although these were unilateral acts, they were viewed as treaties by the Wallachian and Moldavian rulers.

Alongside Dobruja, a part of present-day Western Romania came under direct Ottoman rule in 1551-1718 was the Eyalet of Temeşvar, namely the regions of Banat and southern Crișana in 1552. The Ottoman rule extended to Arad (1551–1699) and as far as Oradea (1661–1699). The thousand Ottoman Muslims settled there were, where however, driven out by Habsburg conquest and settled at Ada Kaleh on the Danube river. The Banat region was mainly populated by Rascians (Serbs) in the west, and Vlachs (Romanians) in the east. Thus, in some historical sources, the region of Banat was referred to as Rascia, while in others as Wallachia. Numerous Ottoman Muslims settled in the area, living mostly in the cities and associated with trade and administration.

By the 17th century, according to the notes of traveler Evliya Çelebi, Dobruja was also home to a distinct community of people of mixed Turkish and Wallachian heritage. Additionally, a part of the Dobrujan Roma community has traditionally adhered to Islam; it is believed that it originated with groups of Romani people serving in the Ottoman Army during the 16th century, and has probably incorporated various ethnic Turks who had not settled down in the cities or villages.

The presence of Ottoman Muslims in the two Danubian Principalities was also attested, centering on Turkish traders and small communities of Muslim Roma. It is also attested that, during later Phanariote rules and the frequent Russo-Turkish Wars, Ottoman troops were stationed on Wallachia's territory.

Traditionally, large scale Turkish Romanian migration has been to the Republic of Turkey where most arrived as muhacirs ("refugees") during the First World War and the Second World War.

High level visits

 * President Ahmet Necdet Sezer visited Romania between July 8–9, 2004.
 * President Traian Băsescu visited Turkey between September 28–29, 2005.
 * Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Romania between October 24–26, 2007.
 * Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu visited Turkey between February 1–2, 2006.
 * Minister of Foreign Affairs Lazăr Comănescu visited Turkey on April 19 and 20 November 2003.
 * Head of the Parliament Bogdan Olteanu visited Turkey between November 7–9, 2007.
 * Speaker of the Parliament Koksal Toptan visited Romania between November 27–30 May 2008.

Resident diplomatic missions

 * Romania has an embassy in Ankara and consulates-general in Istanbul and İzmir.
 * Turkey has an embassy in Bucharest and a consulate-general in Constanța.