South Africa–Turkey relations are the current and historical relations between the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the

Republic of 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 ...

. Formal diplomatic relations were established at consular level in 1991 and consulates-general were opened in Istanbul and Johannesburg respectively. Both consulates were closed following the upgrading of relations to ambassadorial level in October 1992. South Africa has an embassy in Ankara. Turkey has an embassy in Pretoria. From 1998, Turkey has maintained a Consulate General in Cape Town with jurisdiction over the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces. The post is filled by the current incumbent in an honorary capacity, Adv Glenn Babb.

Historical relations

The forerunner to Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, established relations with colonial South Africa, which was then part of the British Empire, in 1861 with the appointment of a Mr. de Roubaix to Istanbul. Mr. Bettelheim was sent from the Ottoman Empire to Cape Town in 1889. Bettelheim remained in the post of consul to South Africa until 1896. The Ottomans also maintained consulates in Durban and Johannesburg. Relations between the Ottoman Empire and South Africa were maintained until the outbreak of World War I, when the Ottomans entered the war on the side of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, whereas the Union of South Africa entered alongside the British. Prior to the outbreak of the Great War, a new consular arrived in Cape Town, Mehmet Remzi Bey. He was interned during the war by the British authorities and died in 1916. He was buried in Johannesburg.

Religious relations

In 1863, a qadi, or Islamic judge, was sent by the Ottoman Sultan

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 187 ...

to teach the Muslim population in Cape Town. The judge was

Abu Bakr Effendi Sheikh Abu Bakr Effendi ( – 29 June 1880), also spelt Ebu Bekir Efendi, was an Ottoman ''qadi'' sent in 1862 by Sultan Abdulaziz at the request of Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope, in order to teach and assist the Muslim communit ...

and he was credited with introducing the

fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

for men, as well as reinstating the

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

for women. More importantly, besides his role as teacher he also published the Arabic Afrikaans "Uiteensetting van die godsdiens" ("Bayan ad-Din", or "The Exposition of the Religion") in 1877. He married a British woman and died in South Africa in 1880.

Turkey and the apartheid government

Turkey stood in consistent opposition to the white minority governments in South Africa. It did not maintain any type of relations until negotiations began between the African National Congress and the government towards democratic elections. Turkey also promoted the independence of Namibia, which was under the occupation of South Africa from World War I until October 1990.

Post-apartheid relations

South Africa and Turkey normalized relations following the democratic elections of 1994 in South Africa. The government of South Africa maintained a similar position on Kurdish nationalism as the Turkish Republic.

Notes

Sources

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External links

South African embassy in Ankara

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Africa - Turkey Relations Turkey Bilateral relations of Turkey