The Turkish Embassy in Kinshasa opened in 1974, as one of the oldest
Turkish Embassies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) opened its embassy in Ankara in 2011.
11th President of the Republic of Türkiye paid an official visit
to the DRC on 14-16 March 2010. This visit constituted the first ever
presidential visit between the two countries. The first meeting of the
political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the
two countries was held in Kinshasa on 4th March, 2014, while the second
round took place in Ankara on 16th February, 2016.
The then Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration of the DRC, H.E. Léonard She Okitundu, paid an official visit
to Ankara between 22 and 25 November 2017.
In 2018, two high-level visits from the DRC to Türkiye took place. First,
the then Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration of the DRC, H.E. Léonard She Okitundu attended to the
inauguration ceremony of H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of the
Republic of Türkiye on 9th July. On 29th October, the
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transportation and Communication of the
DRC, H.E. José Makila was among the distinguished guests of the opening
ceremony of Istanbul Airport.
These progressive high-level visits are considered as clear indicators of
the mutual determination to further develop bilateral relations.
Türkiye mainly imports copper, rubber, wood products and livestock from the
DRC. The bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and the DRC peaked to 163
million USD by 2015. Following a downward trend after this year; the total
bilateral trade volume occurred at a level of 60 million USD in 2016 and
54,7 million USD in 2019.
The first meeting of the Joint Economic Commission took place in 2009 in
Ankara. The DRC participated in the Türkiye – Africa Economic and Business
Forum, held between 2-3 November 2016 in İstanbul, with a delegation headed
by Modeste Bahati Lukwebo, Former Minister of Economy. The Foreign Economic
Relations Board (DEİK) of Türkiye and the Federation of Congolese Companies
(FEC) signed a MoU regarding the establishment of Türkiye – DRC Business
Council on 6th June, 2016, in Kinshasa.
Turkish Maarif Foundation is currently running schools in DRC.
Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul to Kinshasa 7 times a week.
Through Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Türkiye is
providing development assistance to DRC in various domains.
Since 1992, government of Türkiye grants scholarships to students from DRC.