Relationship dossier
Turkey
Australia
Relationship assessment
Cooperation rooted in Gallipoli commemoration, with periodic diplomatic friction
Turkey toward Australia
+15Turkish governments have supported Gallipoli commemorations attended by Australians, sustaining official engagement around the campaign. In 2019, President Erdoğan made remarks about Australians following the Christchurch attacks that prompted an Australian government protest.
Australia toward Turkey
+10Australian governments have maintained official engagement with Turkey through Gallipoli commemorations and raised concerns directly with Turkish authorities after President Erdoğan's 2019 remarks about Australians following the Christchurch attacks.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship has a durable cooperative basis in Gallipoli commemoration and continuing official engagement, but it is not free of political friction. The 2019 dispute showed that public rhetoric can strain ties; the depth and longer-term effect of broader bilateral cooperation are less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Turkey and Australia maintain generally cooperative relations, with the Gallipoli campaign and its commemoration providing a durable foundation for people-to-people and official engagement. The countries also interact through international forums. Relations have faced friction over inflammatory Turkish remarks about Australians following the Christchurch attacks in 2019, which prompted an Australian government protest.
Areas of tension
- Australian objections to President Erdoğan's 2019 remarks about Australians following the Christchurch attacks.
Key developments
Gallipoli commemorations became a recurring focus of official and public engagement between Turkey and Australia.
Australia protested President Erdoğan's remarks about Australians following the Christchurch attacks.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral cooperation beyond commemorative and international-forum engagement are unclear.
- The extent to which the 2019 dispute affected subsequent government relations is unclear.