Barış Doster
Republic of Turkey and The People’s Republic of
China are important countries in Eurasia and have been developing
economic and political ties. Diplomatic relations between the two
countries were established in 1971 and have improved significantly in
recent years in the political, social, cultural, and economic fields.
With the Joint Declaration on the Establishment and Development of the
Strategic Relationship of Cooperation, economic cooperation and improved
trade relations have developed between Turkey and China. Bilateral
trade, surpassing 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2000, is constantly
expanding. Currently, China is Turkey’s third-largest trading partner,
with trade amounting to 28 billion U.S. dollars. Although Turkey belongs
to NATO, has close relations with the United States and
wants to join the European Union, they have turned to the east
especially for economic needs after the Global Financial Crisis. Turkey
is popular among Chinese tourists, and cultural relations between the
two countries are developing. In 2011, the 40th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations was celebrated in Turkey and
China. The number of Confucius Centres, Chinese language departments at
universities, restaurants, businessmen’s associations, bilateral
touristic travels, Turkish students in China, and Chinese students in
Turkey are all increasing.
Affiliations:
1: Associate Professor, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey dosterb(at)hotmail.com
