Relations between Turkish and Bengali nations have strong historical and cultural roots dating back before the foundation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The Muslims of South Asia including the Bengalis, had supported the Turkish National Struggle. The respect and admiration for Atatürk is reflected in the epic poem “Kamal Pasha”, written by Kazi Nazrul Islam, National Poet of Bangladesh, in 1921. This poem has been on the curriculum in Bangladesh schools. Besides, one major avenue in Dhaka and another one in Chittagong have been named as “Kemal Atatürk Avenue”. Furthermore, a high school in Dagan Bhuiyan, in Feni and a Turkish language center in Dhaka Cantonment were named as “Atatürk Model High School” and “Mustafa Kemal Turkish Language Center”. In the same vein, the support of the Bengal people during the Turkish National Struggle is still remembered with gratitude by the Turkish people.

Türkiye recognized Bangladesh on 22 February 1974 on the occasion of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference) Summit which was held in Lahore. The Turkish Embassy in Dhakka was opened in 1976 and the Embassy of Bangladesh in Ankara in 1981.

H.E. Ms. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, accompanied by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Ms Dipu Moni, visited Türkiye to participate in the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries which took place in İstanbul on 9-13 May 2011. Prime Minister Hasina also paid an official visit to Türkiye on 10-13 April 2012 upon the invitation of the then Prime Minister H.E. Erdoğan.

Türkiye increased its aid activities in 2017, as a new wave of Rohingya Muslims sheltered in Bangladesh due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. In this context, H.E. Emine Erdoğan, Spouse of President of Türkiye together with H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, H.E. Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, former Minister of Family and Social Policies paid a visit on 6-7 September 2017 and H.E. Recep Akdağ, former Deputy Prime Minister of Türkiye paid a visit on 27 September 2017 to Bangladesh, in order to examine the living conditions of Rohingya Muslims and discuss the Turkish humanitarian aid effort.

The latest high level visit to Bangladesh from Türkiye was the former Prime Minister H.E. Binali Yıldırım’s visit on 18-20 December 2017. The Prime Minister held meetings with H.E. Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh and H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh and visited Rohingya Camps in Cox’s Bazaar.

The most recent Presidential level visit from Bangladesh to Türkiye was the visit of H.E. Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh on 13 December 2017, in the context of the OIC Extraordinary Summit in Istanbul. During the summit, the two Presidents also held a bilateral meeting.

H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, met with H.E. Hasan Mahmud Ali, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, during the abovementioned visit to Bangladesh on 6-7 September 2017. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh H.E. Hasan Mahmud Ali also attended the OIC Extraordinary Summit in Istanbul on 18 May 2018.

Bangladesh hosted the OIC 45th Ministerial Meeting between 5-6 May 2018, a delegation headed by former Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Bekir Bozdağ attended the Meeting.

A delegation from Bangladesh headed by H.E. Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, the Minister of Land of Bangladesh attended the Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee at the level of the Foreign Ministers was held in Istanbul on 22 March 2019.

The political consultations was held on 20 May 2019 in Ankara, between delegations headed by Foreign Deputy Minister Ambassador H.E Sedat Önal and H.E Md. Shahidul Haque, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.