France and Turkey

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Political relations

Bilateral dialogue has strengthened since 2012, due largely to converging views on several major international issues and close bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in economic affairs (in the JETCO – Joint Economic and Trade Committee framework).

Visits

  • The Turkish President visited Paris on 5 January 2018.
  • For the 2018 session of JETCO, the Turkish Economics Minister visited Paris on 10 April of that year.
  • The Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Paris on 22 May 2019.
  • The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs visited Ankara on 13 June 2019.

For more information, visit the website of the French Embassy in Turkey (in French)

Economic and trade relations

In 2018, trade reached €14 billion. Turkey is France’s 13th-largest global supplier, and the fifth-largest excluding the EU and Switzerland. It is our 12th-largest customer, or third if the EU and Switzerland are excluded. France is Turkey’s sixth-largest customer, receiving 4.3% of its exports.

Click here for Turkey’s economic statistics sheet : key figures on bilateral trade and support services for French businesses (in French)

Educational, scientific, cultural and technical cooperation

Two French schools are accredited by the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE): Lycée Charles de Gaulle in Ankara and Lycée Pierre Loti in Istanbul. Our educational cooperation is also founded on a network of bilingual Francophone schools. In addition to six private French schools and the private secular foundation Tevfik Fikret, the MICEL (Educational and Linguistic Cooperation Mission), a financially autonomous body, provides French teachers for the Galatasaray institutions (school and university). With regard to research, the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA), founded in Istanbul in 1930, is an excellent facility. Where academia is concerned, France has a special position thanks to the Francophone Galatasaray University, created by a bilateral agreement in 1992. It has more than 3,000 students. Cultural and artistic cooperation is supported by the Institut Français in Turkey which has three sites in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Turkey has two Alliances Françaises, in Adana and Bursa.

For more information, visit the website of the French Embassy in Turkey (in French)

Updated: November 2019