North Macedonia–Turkey relations are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

and of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. North Macedonia has an embassy in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

and a Consulate General in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Turkey has an embassy in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

History

Due to historical, cultural, and human bonds, North Macedonia and Turkey have very close and friendly relations.Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Shortly after North Macedonia declared its independence from the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

in 1991 Turkey recognized North Macedonia's sovereignty as one of the first countries to do so. Bilateral relations were established on 26 August 1992. North Macedonia has an embassy in

and a consulate–general in

, while Turkey has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

. Also, the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

is a co-official language in two municipalities, alongside the

Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...

. Turkey and North Macedonia also have good economic relations. There are several Turkish companies present in North Macedonia, notably

TAV Airports Holding TAV Airports Holding ( tr, TAV Havalimanları Holding) is a Turkish airport operation and services firm that is part of Groupe ADP. It is one of the world's largest airport operators, providing services to 1 million flights and 152 million passen ...

and Şişecam. Both countries aspire to join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. In a

Gallup polls Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its bu ...

conducted in 2010, Turkey is viewed as a ''friendly country'' with a positive image among a large majority (80 percent) of people in the Republic of North Macedonia. Recognition of the Republic of North Macedonia by Turkey is predicated on North Macedonia upholding the free movement and rights of Albanians in the country. In February 2018, Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

expressed support of the Republic of North Macedonia's position during negotiations over the dispute, saying that Greece's position is wrong. Turkey supports the Republic of North Macedonia's bid to join the

Citizens from North Macedonia of Turkish origin

There are 77,959 citizens declared as Turkish in North Macedonia, forming 3.85% of the population of the country. The Turks of North Macedonia serve as a bridge between the two states, and were part of a program for cooperation in the sphere of culture for the period between 2009 and 2011. According to the program both sides shall intensify the cooperation in different segments of culture and art. Additionally, the countries shall promote each other's culture and open Cultural Information Centres - North Macedonia in Istanbul and Turkey in Skopje. On that occasion, the minister of North Macedonia also announced that the government of North Macedonia decided to renew the house of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's parents, located in the village of

Kodžadžik Kodžadžik ( mk, Коџаџик; tr, Kocacık), is a village in the municipality of Centar Župa, North Macedonia. The village is inhabited mainly by Turks. Name A former Ottoman fortress existed at the location of Kodžadžik before the end ...

near

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has ...

.Government of the Republic of Macedonia
The Turkish authorities allowed archaeologists from North Macedonia to make a copy of the

Alexander Sarcophagus The Alexander Sarcophagus is a late 4th century BC Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon. It is adorned with bas-relief carvings of Alexander the Great and scrolling historical and mythological narratives. The ...

that afterwards will be displayed in a museum in North Macedonia.

NATO

Turkey joined

on 18 February 1952, North Macedonia joined NATO on 27 March 2020.

References

External links

Embassy of North Macedonia in Ankara

Embassy of Turkey in Skopje
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Macedonia-Turkey relations

History

Citizens from North Macedonia of Turkish origin

NATO

See also

References

External links