Relationship dossier
Turkey
Philippines
Relationship assessment
Turkey and the Philippines have a growing partnership centered on defense cooperation and high-level agreements.
Turkey toward Philippines
+35Turkey has supplied defense equipment to the Philippines, including T129 attack helicopters, and has pursued bilateral defense cooperation. The two governments elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership during President Erdoğan’s 2024 visit.
Philippines toward Turkey
+35The Philippines ordered T129 attack helicopters from Turkey and has pursued bilateral defense cooperation. The two governments elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership during President Erdoğan’s 2024 visit.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship has a practical defense foundation, including the Philippine procurement of Turkish helicopters, alongside a strategic partnership announced in 2024. These features support a cooperative bilateral structure, while the scale and implementation of broader cooperation remain unclear.
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 the Philippines have developed practical defense ties, including a Philippine purchase of Turkish T129 attack helicopters and bilateral defense cooperation. Their governments elevated relations to a strategic partnership during President Erdoğan’s 2024 visit to the Philippines. These initiatives indicate substantive cooperation, although the breadth and implementation of the partnership are not clear.
Key developments
The Philippines ordered six T129 attack helicopters from Turkey.
During President Erdoğan’s visit to the Philippines, the two governments elevated relations to a strategic partnership.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of the strategic partnership and defense cooperation arrangements are unclear.
- The extent of cooperation beyond defense and high-level agreements is uncertain.