 | |
 Finland |  Turkey |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Finland, Ankara | Embassy of Turkey, Helsinki |
Finland–Turkey relations are foreign relations betweenFinland andTurkey. Finland has an embassy inAnkara and an honorary consulate general inIstanbul. Turkey has anembassy in Helsinki. Both countries are full members of theCouncil of Europe, theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE),North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and theUnion for the Mediterranean. Finland is anEUmember and Turkey is anEUcandidate. Finland supports Turkey's accession to the EU.[1] Turkey did not supportFinland's accession to NATO until March 2023, but accepted its participation.
TheOttoman Empire recognized the independence of Finland on February 21, 1918. Diplomatic relations between them were established on September 12, 1926. Relations between the two countries were described as being friendly though due to geographical separation, co-operation was limited. The first ambassador to Turkey was established in 1931 and an embassy in 1940. Finnish President at the time,Urho Kekkonen, made a state visit to Turkey in 1971, being the first Nordic head of state to visit Turkey in 250 years. Finnish tourism to Turkey increased in the 1980s, when destinations were established first toMarmara region and later toAlanya andSide. Finland was among the first countries to supportTurkey's accession to the EU.[2]
In 2008, the front door of the Turkish embassy in Helsinki was set on fire. The day prior to that, a Kurdish demonstration was staged by the embassy. Four young men of Turkish-Kurdish background were brought into custody. The Police stated it was politically motivated.[3]Finland stopped selling weapons to Turkey in 2019 due toTurkey's military operation in Syria.[4]In 2020, a Finnish citizen was arrested in Turkey, being suspected of having links toISIS.Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs reported that it was aware of the arrest but refused to comment on it.[5] In January 2023, Finland lifted its embargo on weapons exports to Turkey.[6]
In October 2021, in the wake of the appeal for the release of Turkish activistOsman Kavala signed by 10 western countries, Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered his foreign minister to declare the Finnish ambassadorpersona non grata, alongside the other 9 ambassadors.[7] Following a statement by the ambassadors, reiterating their compliance with Article 41 of theVienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations regarding the diplomatic duty not to interfere in host states’ internal affairs, President Erdoğan decided to not expel the ambassadors.[8]
In October 2021, Finnish Prime MinisterSanna Marin reacted sharply to Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, who declared his country's ambassador deported. And Marin also asked Erdoğan to implement theEuropean Court of Human Rights decisions and to respect the ECHR judgments.[9]
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In 2022, Turkey opposed Finland joiningNATO because according to Turkey it hosts “terrorist organisations” which act against Turkey (including thePKK,PYD,YPG andGülen movement). The Gülen movement is on the list of terrorist organizations in Turkey, but is not on the list of terrorist organizations in Finland and the PKK is on the list of terrorist organizations in both Turkey and Finland.[10] In May 2022, Turkey quickly blocked the applications for NATO membership of Finland's from proceeding through an accelerated process.[11] In May 2022, Turkey vetoed Finland's NATO membership.[12] Turkey has demanded Finland and Sweden to extradite alleged terrorists linked to the Gülen movement and the Kurdish militant group PKK.[13] By June 2022 Finland had received 10 extradition requests, of which two were handed to the Turkish authorities. There are around 16,000Kurds in Finland, some of them being fromTurkey.[14] On 21 May 2022, Finnish PresidentSauli Niinistö, after a telephone conversation with Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced that they were ready for dialogue with Turkey regarding Finland's membership in NATO and that they always condemnedterrorism.[15]Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support the Gülen movement and the PKK.[16] Turkey asked Finland to stop and end theKurdish demonstrations.[16] Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support terrorism.[17] Turkey asked Finland and Sweden to address Turkey's security concerns.[18]On 28 June 2022, during aNATO summit in Madrid, Turkey agreed to support the membership bids of Finland and Sweden.[19][20]In September 2022, Turkey requested the extradition of 6 Turkish citizens from Finland. However, Finland did not respond positively and refused.[21]Turkey demanded that Finland end its support to the Gülen movement and the PKK.[22] In December 2022, Finnish Defense MinisterAntti Kaikkonen, in a statement after his meeting with his Turkish counterpartHulusi Akar, announced that Finland was ready to address Turkey's security concerns and that they always condemned terrorism.[23][24] In January 2023,President of the Turkish Grand National AssemblyMustafa Şentop cancelled theFinnish Parliament SpeakerMatti Vanhanen's visit to Turkey.[25]After Turkey's parliament approved Finland's application on 30 March 2023, Finland was set to become the31st member of NATO.[26]On 1 April 2023, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan signed and approved the proposal containing Finland's accession protocol.[27]
Turkey is an important trading partner for Finland. Trade between the two countries totaled $1.3 billion in 2018. Turkey is among the most popular tourist destinations for Finns, with 230,000 Finns travelling to Turkey in 2015.[28]
As of 2023, there were 13,399 people in Finland of Turkish background, of which 10,555 were born in Turkey and 2,844 in Finland.[29] Around 2,000 Finns live in theAlanya region alone.[30]
Finland joined theEU in1995. Turkey is still a candidate country for theEU, andmembership negotiations have been effectively frozen since 2016. Finland fully supportsTurkey's EU membership process, as it has effectively frozen membership negotiations.
Turkey joinedNATO in1952. Finland joinedNATO in2023.
| Guest | Host | Place of visit | Date of visit |
|---|---|---|---|
 PresidentUrho Kekkonen |  PresidentCevdet Sunay | Ankara, Turkey | 7-12 June 1971[31] |
| PresidentFahri Korutürk | President Urho Kekkonen | Helsinki, Finland | 12-15 April 1977[31] |
| PresidentMartti Ahtisaari | PresidentSüleyman Demirel | Ankara, Turkey | 20 November 1999[32] |
| PresidentAbdullah Gül | PresidentTarja Halonen | Helsinki, Finland | 7–9 October 2008 |
| Prime MinisterMatti Vanhanen | Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan | Istanbul, Turkey | 6 October 2009 |
| Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Prime MinisterMari Kiviniemi | Helsinki, Finland | 19–20 October 2010 |
| President Tarja Halonen | President Abdullah Gül | Ankara, andŞanlıurfa, Turkey | 29–30 March 2011 |
| Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Prime MinisterJyrki Katainen | Helsinki, Finland | 5–6 November 2013 |
| PresidentSauli Niinistö | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Ankara, and Istanbul, Turkey | 12–15 October 2015 |
| Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoğlu | Prime MinisterJuha Sipilä | Helsinki, Finland | 6 April 2016 |
| President Sauli Niinistö | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Ankara, andKahramanmaraş, Turkey | 16–17 March 2023[33] |
| PresidentAlexander Stubb | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Ankara, Turkey | 1 October 2024 |
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