Turkey and Ukraine

UKRAINE AND TÜRKİYE

Bilateral relations.

Longstanding relations between Ukraine and Türkiye are founded on a shared historical legacy, cultural links, and geographical reality.

In 1991, Türkiye was one of the first nations to acknowledge Ukrainian independence. On 3 February 1992, diplomatic ties between the two countries were established.

When the Declaration on Establishing a High-Level Strategic Council (HLSC) was signed in 2011, cooperation between our countries intensified considerably. This declaration codified the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Türkiye and established an institutional vehicle to implement the new format of bilateral relations, namely the Strategic Council co-chaired by the presidents of both nations. The HLSC is expected to convene yearly to review the implementation of the agreements and to identify prospective areas and projects for fostering further cooperation.

During the period from 2011 to 2022, the Ukrainian and Turkish presidents had ten sessions of the HLSC devoted to the entire range of bilateral cooperation, including political discourse, economic, defense, security, and humanitarian cooperation. In February 2022, the last HLSC conference was conducted in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian and Turkish Foreign Ministers meet frequently, particularly through the Joint Strategic Planning Group, which is a supporting mechanism of HLSC (the most recent such meeting was held in Lviv, Ukraine, on 7 October 2021).

As the security situation in the Black Sea region deteriorated due to the aggressive policies of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Türkiye established a new format for political and security dialogue in 2020, consisting of regular 2+2 consultations in Quadriga format between their foreign and defense ministers. In December of 2020, the first gathering in this format took place in Kyiv.

Türkiye has been unequivocally supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity since the beginning of the Russian aggression in 2014 and undertaking consistent steps in line with its policy of non-recognition of the illegal attempted annexation of Crimea.

During the Russian invasion in 2022, Türkiye has called upon the end of the hostilities, expressed its support to Ukraine and took an important step by blocking the passage of all military ships via the Black Sea straits.

Bilateral agreements.

Ukraine and Türkiye have 154 bilateral agreements in effect. Among the most significant agreements are the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation (1992), the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the High-Level Strategic Council (2011), and the Free Trade Agreement (2022, pending ratification by the parliaments).

Economic cooperation.

The total value of trade between Ukraine and Türkiye in 2021 was USD 7.4 billion, comprised of USD 4.143 billion in Ukrainian exports and USD 3.258 billion in Turkish exports.

Multilateral cooperation.

Ukraine and Türkiye actively collaborate within the framework of international organizations, (UN, OSCE, WTO, BSEC etc.) and engage in fruitful dialogue inside the NATO context.