Taiwan–Turkey relations

Taiwan–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Taiwan and Turkey. Since 1971, Turkey maintains non-governmental, working-level relations with Taiwan.

Ottoman relations with China and Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan
From 1683 to 1895, Great Qing governed Taiwan as part of Fujian but generally sent Great Qing’s worst to Taiwan that led to oppressive rule and violence. Great Qing ceded Taiwan in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, which Turkey recognized.

Republic of China
After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the Ottoman Empire and later the Republic of Turkey established relations with the Republic of China in 1934.

Turkish government officials received a Chinese Muslim delegation under Wang Zengshan who denounced the Japanese invasion of China.

Following Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan became part of the Republic of China on October 25, 1945. Between 1947 and 1949, Mao’s armies defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Chinese forces, which caused the government and the military of the Republic of China to flee to Taiwan. The ROC went on to reconstruct the island, following the land reform effort launched in 1950.

In 1968, a period of Sino-American rapprochement occurred because Richard Nixon needed Chinese help in getting out of the Vietnam War “with honor.” Following this rapprochement, Turkey was one of 76 nations voting in favor of admitting Mao's government to the United Nations, in place of Chiang Kai-shek’s. Afterwards Turkey quickly moved on to establish diplomatic relations People’s Republic of China, thereby suspending diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. Despite adhering to the PRC's One-China policy, Turkey still maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan.

On October 31, 2020, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, posted a tweet thanking Taiwan for giving Turkey aid to get through an earthquake it recently got struck by, but took it down and replaced it with one where the thanks was gone. Many Taiwanese officials expressed their displeasure with the tweet. Joseph Wu, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said it was due to China's meddling and pressure.

Economic relations

 * Trade volume between the two countries was US$1.4 billion in 2017 (Turkish exports/imports: 0.2/1.2 billion USD).
 * There are direct flights from Istanbul to Taipei since March 2015.