Dear guests,
Honorable organizers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honor to address such a distinguished audience. I am pleased to gather with you on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and China. Thank you for your invitation.
- Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Türkiye and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were established in 1971. However, our relations go back to centuries ago. Even today, this historical bond lays the foundation for developing our relations in all fields.
- Thanks to the Silk Road, cultural and economic exchanges have continued to serve for cooperation between our two great civilizations. The Chinese porcelains displayed in the Ottoman Court show the depth of this relationship.
- Both countries experienced significant transformations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Both the Ottoman Empire and Qing Dynasty China faced modernization processes, external pressures, and shifting power balances in the international system.
- Türkiye’s victory against imperialism and subsequent modernization efforts led by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk inspired many other nations. During the same period, Chinese nation was also struggling against the same odds and fighting to become an independent modern state.
- In this period, Türkiye’s victory was hailed by many Chinese intellectuals and political leaders of the time, nationalist and communist alike, including CCP leaders such as Cai Hesen who stated that “the Anatolian victory of the Turkish people against imperialism was a development that would encourage all oppressed nations.”
- During this period, we formally established diplomatic relations in 1925. In 1929, we opened our first Embassy in Nanjing. Our Embassy was relocated to Chongqing in 1939, following the Japanese invasion of Nanjing.
- Both nations have undergone sophisticated modernization processes, similar historical experiences and strong state traditions.
- Following the establishment of our diplomatic ties in 1971 and opening-up of both countries especially after the 1980’s, bilateral relations made significant progress.
- Following the visit of former President (Kenan Evren) to China in December 1982 and his counterpart (Li Xiannian) to Türkiye in 1984, bilateral relations gained momentum, particularly in economic and cultural spheres.
- Bilateral relations were further advanced by the visits of Jiang Zemin to Türkiye in April 2000 at the invitation of former President Süleyman Demirel. During the visit, a Joint Communique expressing both sides’ determination to constantly expand and deepen friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation was signed.
- These visits were followed by many important ones, but some left concrete signs.
- That Communique was also significant in terms of its reference to the importance of the Silk Road, which paved the way for our support for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from the very beginning. We believe that BRI is in natural harmony with Türkiye’s Middle Corridor Initiative. In this context, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China in 2015 to harmonize these two initiatives and held the first working group meeting in November 2024 in Beijing.
- The effective and full harmonization of these two visions will not only provide significant opportunities in commercial, political and cultural areas for the regional countries, but it will also address challenges posed by an increasingly complex world.
- Former PM Wen Jiabao’s visit in 2010 elevated the status of our bilateral relations to “Strategic Cooperation”.
- President Erdoğan and President Xi also frequently meet at the margins of international organizations. The last meeting between the Presidents was held during the SCO Tianjin Summit on 31 August 2025.
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to Türkiye in July 2023. He met with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and was received by President Erdoğan.
- Foreign Minister Fidan visited Beijing, Urumqi and Kashgar on 3-5 June 2024. In substance, it was a visit that formatted our bilateral relations in a positive sense.
Dear participants,
- Turkish-Chinese political and economic relations have flourished significantly in recent years under the joint strategic vision and guidance of our leaders. We believe the current level of our cooperation and dialogue should be further enhanced and reach to its true potential.
- Economy-trade relations constitute a pivotal pillar of our cooperation. Our trade volume has reached $50 billion last year, making China our largest trading partner.
- Our goals for global peace, stability and development are similar. Our approaches highly overlap on many regional and international issues, including Palestine, Gaza, Iran and Ukraine. As two traditional pioneers of diplomacy and dialogue, we could consult each other more and jointly contribute to efforts aimed at solving various regional and global issues.
- We believe the 55th anniversary presents an opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation in all fields. This includes academic and people-to-people exchanges. Therefore, it is a pleasure to see many researchers that are interested in Turkish history, culture and language.
- Since my first day in China, I have sincerely attached utmost importance to maintain contacts with all universities, especially those with Turkish Studies Centers. I am trying to visit as many universities as I could, either in Beijing or during my official trips.
- Needless to say, universities are expected to provide comprehensive, factual and accurate information, reliable guidance and valuable insights for foreign policy practitioners and decision makers. Hence, universities and esteemed academicians not only have important roles, but heavy responsibilities as well.
- As we gather here for the 6th Annual Conference of the National Alliance for Türkiye Studies and Youth Forum today, I’m glad to observe so many friends’ showing curiosity about Türkiye and Turkish people.
- On the other hand, in light of the programme of this event, we observed that some of the researchers/scholars, may not see our sincere intent to advance the mutual understanding and trust between our two nations in an impartial way.
- We strongly think that some of these pieces were written under the influence of totally one-sided sources. Some seem to have totally wrong/inaccurate sources based on orientalism and even old-style imperialism.
-Of course, universities have academic freedom, but those living in a glass should be careful if they wish theirs to be intact.
- I humbly call on those friends to refrain from approaching our country and nation on the basis of biased and baseless narratives or allegations that are designed only for antagonizing.
- We hope such small texts will not affect the overall success of the conference. China is surely like Türkiye one of the cradles and lighthouses of the world civilization. We always wish to trust the academic integrity and objectivity of Chinese institutions.
Distinguished participants,
- I once again thank you all and wish that this event will contribute to consolidating and deepening our bilateral relations with China and friendly Chinese nation.
Xie xie.