Latvia–Turkey relations explained

Latvia–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Latvia and Turkey. Both countries are members of NATO and the Council of Europe.

History

Turkey recognized the independence of Latvia in 1925.^[2] ^[3]
Following the USSR annexation of Latvia in August 1940, Turkey closed its consulate in Riga– in tandem with the United States– on September 5, 1940. Despite the closure of the consulate, Turkey never recognized the Latvia's annexation and continued diplomatic relations with Latvia and Estonia by conferring diplomatic status on the diplomats that were accredited by the previous Latvian government.
Turkey recognized the restoration of Latvia's independence on September 3, 1991.^[2]

Guest	Host	Place of visit	Date of visit
President Andris Bērziņš	President Abdullah Gül	Çankaya Köşkü, Ankara	April 16–17, 2014^[4]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	President Andris Bērziņš	Riga Castle, Riga	October 22–23, 2014
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu	Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs	Riga Castle, Riga	May 16, 2019
Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs	Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu	Ankara	August 16, 2022^[5]

Trade volume between the two countries was 398 million USD in 2016 (Turkish exports/imports: 196/202 million USD).