Bilateral Relations between Türkiye and the United States of America

Turkish-U.S. relations have developed since the end of the 18th century through maritime trade around the Turkish Mediterranean ports. This period is considered as the beginning of the first contacts between the Ottoman Empire and the United States of America. Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Republic of Türkiye were established through an exchange of notes on 17 February 1927. After World War II, relations between the two countries rapidly expanded and deepened.

Türkiye and the U.S. have long-standing alliance relations under NATO’s umbrella. This deep-rooted partnership has made important contributions to the peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic geography.

Today, relations between Türkiye and the U.S. have diversified and intensified. Indeed, both countries have common interests on many regional and global issues. However, some ongoing differences directly related to Türkiye’s national security, such as the U.S. support to the PYD/YPG in Syria, FETÖ, and the unilateral sanctions, continue to unduly burden our bilateral relations.

Parliamentary Relations between Türkiye and the U.S.

Parliamentary diplomacy is an important aspect of Türkiye-U.S. bilateral relationship. In the U.S. Congress, Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) and Amata Coleman Radewagen (C-American Samoa) are co-chairs of the Türkiye Caucus, which has 80 members in total. Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu (Justice and Development Party-İzmir) serves as the chairman of the Türkiye-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM).

Economic Relations between Türkiye and the U.S.

The legal framework of our economic and commercial relations is based on the Agreement on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments of 1990; the Treaty On Avoiding Double Taxation of 1997 and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) of 2000.

The bilateral trade volume has reached a record level of 32.1 billion USD in 2022, and 27.9 billion USD was recorded between January and November in 2023. The upward trends continue. Türkiye and the U.S. have set out to increase their bilateral trade to 100 billion USD.

There are more than 2,000 U.S. firms registered in Turkey. Mutual investments also continue to increase.

Turkish Airlines flies directly to thirteen destinations in the U.S.: Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, Newark, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit.

In 2021, 371,759 U.S. tourists visited Türkiye. This number increased to 1,013,478 in 2022.