Poland-Turkey relations: Cordial and growing ever closer

Finland and Sweden have been waiting for months to join NATO. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the two Scandinavian countries applied to join the military alliance in May 2022. Out of NATO's 30 members, only Hungary and Turkey blocked their membership bids.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently declared that he would no longer obstruct the northern expansion of the alliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the other hand, has suggested that Ankara could approve Finland's application for membership but attached conditions to his approval of Sweden's bid.

Erdogan is demanding that Sweden take a harder line on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulen movement and extradite to Turkey activists from both organizations who have been granted asylum in Sweden.

Now Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki hopes to be able to end the stalemate. During a visit to Stockholm on Monday, he promised to use the excellent relations between Poland and Turkey to convince the Turkish president to approve Sweden's accession to NATO.

Poland recognizes Turkey as a geopolitical power

It is true that despite geographic distance and cultural differences, relations between the two countries have been cordial for several hundred years.

"Sentimentality, which has grown up over the course of several centuries, plays an important role in relations between Poland and Turkey," said Bruno Surdel, Turkey expert at the Polish Centre for International Relations (CIR). "And then there is Poland's political realism in recognizing Turkey as a superregional geopolitical power."

Mutual respect

This is illustrated by the numerous meetings between Poland's President Andrzej Duda and Erdogan in recent years.

"Because of their longstanding bilateral contacts, the relationship between the two presidents is marked by mutual respect," said Aleksandra Spancerska of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM).

Bloody and bitter past

But it certainly wasn't always this way: Poland and Turkey have in the past been bitter enemies. In the 17th century, both states — then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire — shared a common border along the Dniester River (now in Ukraine) and waged several bloody wars against each other.

In 1683, Polish King John III Sobieski played a key role in the defeat of Kara Mustafa Pasha, grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire, stopping the Ottoman advance into Central Europe outside Vienna.

United by a common foe, Russia

But these old conflicts are a thing of the past. For 300 years, Poland and Turkey (the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I) have been seen as allies. "Russia, the common foe, brought the two nations together and cemented the friendship," explains Bruno Surdel.

When Poland was divided up at the end of the 18th century between Russia, Prussia, and Austria — disappearing entirely from the world map for 123 years — the Ottoman Empire refused to recognize the partition.

Turkey: Haven for 18th-century Polish rebels

After several failed insurrections against the partitioning powers, Turkey became a safe haven for many Polish migrants. In 1842, Polish settlers established a Polish village, Polonezkoy (Adampol in Polish), near Istanbul.

In the middle of the 19th century, Poland's national poet Adam Mickiewicz worked to set up a Polish military unit in the Ottoman Empire to fight Russia in the Crimean War. He died in Constantinople (Istanbul) in November 1855 while preparations were still ongoing.

Relations in the 20th century

The alliance between the two countries remained strong into the 20th century. Poland was the first European country to recognize the Turkish Republic declared by Ataturk in 1923.

During World War II, when Poland was occupied first by Nazi Germany and later by Soviet Russia, the Polish Embassy in Ankara remained operational.

During the Cold War, Communist Poland and Turkey belonged to two enemy alliances — the Warsaw Pact and NATO respectively. With the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, however, relations between the two countries were restored in the early 1990s.

Poland's accession to NATO further strengthened the close relationship. Warsaw backed Turkey's attempt to join the EU and was restrained in its criticism of Ankara for the persecution of opposition figures after the failed coup of 2016.

Turkey as a mediator

Most recently, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has given Turkey a more significant role at international level. At a time when there were hardly any countries with which both Moscow and Kyiv were willing to talk, Turkey offered to act as a mediator. The historic agreement between Ukraine and Russia that allowed for the resumption of grain exports was concluded thanks to Turkey's mediation.

"Poland recognizes the geopolitical significance of Turkey, its function as a bridge between the Middle East and Europe, between Russia and Europe, and its military strength," said Bruno Surdel. "Poland does not have such strong relations with any other important country outside Europe."

The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 triggered a wave of help and support in Poland. On the very same day, 76 Polish firefighters and eight rescue dogs flew to the region from Warsaw. A group of emergency doctors followed soon after. The Polish rescue teams were deployed in Adiayaman and Besni and were able to rescue 13 people in one week. They also set up a Polish field hospital where over 100 people were treated.

This article was originally published in German.