Latvia–Turkey relations

Latvia–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Latvia and Turkey. Bilateral relations between Turkey and Latvia are excellent. Latvia’s NATO allowed both countries to cooperate.

Latvia–Turkey relations

Latvia	Turkey
Diplomatic mission
Latvian Embassy, Ankara	Turkish Embassy, Riga
Envoy
Ambassador Pēteris Vaivars	Ambassador Gülsun Erkul[1]

Historical Relations

• Turkey recognized the independence of Latvia in 1925 and diplomatic relations were established on August 28, 1925.
• Following the USSR annexation of Latvia in August 1940, Turkey closed its consulate in Riga– in tandem with the United States– on September 5, 1940. Despite the closure of the consulate, Turkey never recognized the Latvia’s annexation and continued diplomatic relations with Latvia and Estonia by conferring diplomatic status on the diplomats that were accredited by the previous Latvian government.
• Turkey recognized the restoration of Latvia’s independence on September 3, 1991.

Diplomatic Relations

Both countries are members of the Council of Europe United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World Trade Organization.

Country comparison

	Latvia	Turkey
Flag
State Emblem / National Emblem
Population	1,907,675	83,154,997
Area	64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi)	783,356 km2 (302,455 sq mi)
Population density	29.6/km2 (76.7/sq mi)	105/km2 (271.9/sq mi)
Capital	Riga	Ankara
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic	Unitary presidential constitutional republic
Current Leader	President Egils Levits Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Vice President Fuat Oktay
Official languages	Latvian	Turkish
Main religions	80.0% Christianity, 18.3% No religion	97.6% Islam, 1.1% Christianity, 0.3% Judaism
Ethnic groups	62.3% Latvians, 24.9% Russians, 3.2% Belarusians	85% Turkish, 9% Kurdish 6% Others
Human Development Index (HDI)	0.854 (very high)[2] — 39th	0.806 (very high)[3] — 59th
GDP (PPP)	$63.490 billion ($32,986 per capita)	$2.464 trillion[4] ($29,326 per capita)

Presidential Visits

Guest	Host	Place of visit	Date of visit
President Andris Bērziņš	President Abdullah Gül	Çankaya Köşkü, Ankara	April 16-17, 2014[5]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	President Andris Bērziņš	Riga Castle, Riga	October 22-23, 2014[6]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu	Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs	Riga Castle, Riga	May 16, 2019[7]

Economic Relations

• Trade volume between the two countries was 398 million USD in 2016 (Turkish exports/imports: 196/202 million USD).[8]

See also

• Foreign relations of Latvia
• Foreign relations of Turkey
• EU–Turkey relations

References

1. "Republic of Turkey Embassy in Riga". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.
2. "2019 Human Development Index Ranking | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
3. "2019 Human Development Index Ranking | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
4. "International Monetary Fund, Report on selected countries". International Monetary Fund.
5. "Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs: Latvia supports an open political dialogue with Turkey". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
6. "Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs: Latvia supports an open political dialogue with Turkey". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
7. "Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs: Latvia supports an open political dialogue with Turkey". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
8. "Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs: Latvia supports an open political dialogue with Turkey". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.