South Africa–Turkey relations

South African-Turkish relations

South Africa	Turkey
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of South Africa, Ankara	Embassy of Turkey, Pretoria

South Africa–Turkey relations are the current and historical relations between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Turkey.

Political relations

• 1991 - Formal diplomatic relations established at consular level.
• 1992 - Relations upgraded to ambassadorial level, consulates closed.
• 1994 - South Africa and Turkey normalize relations after the end of apartheid.
• 1998 - Turkey opens Consulate General in Cape Town.
• 2024 - Turkey joins South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Economic relations

• 2025 - South Africa is Turkey's leading trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cultural relations

• 1861 - Ottoman Empire establishes relations with colonial South Africa.
• 1863 - Ottoman Sultan sends a qadi to Cape Town to teach Muslims.
• 1877 - The qadi publishes "Bayan ad-Din" in Arabic Afrikaans.
• 1948-1994 - Turkey consistently opposes apartheid government in South Africa.

See also

• Foreign relations of South Africa
• Foreign relations of Turkey
• Turks in South Africa

References

• Aydin, Ali Kemal (March–May 2003), "Turkey and South Africa: Towards the Second Decade" (PDF), Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs, 8 (1): 1–5
• Orakçı, Serhat (October 2007), A Historical Analysis of the Emerging Links between the Ottoman Empire and South Africa between 1861-1923 (PDF), University of Johannesburg, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-31

External links

• South African embassy in Ankara
• Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with South Africa