Poland–Turkey relations

Polish–Turkish relations are foreign relations between Poland and Turkey. Both countries are full members of NATO and the Union for the Mediterranean.

Polish-Turkish relations

Poland	Turkey
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Poland, Ankara	Embassy of Turkey, Warsaw

Procession of Piotr Potocki, the last envoy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Istanbul in 1790.

Polish-Turkish relations were historically strong, the official relations were established in the 15th century.[1] The Ottoman Empire, along with Persia, was the only major country in the world which did not recognize the Partitions of Poland.[1] In the 19th century many Polish veterans of the November Uprising, January Uprising and Crimean War arrived in Turkey. Many Polish officers, like Michał Czajkowski, served in the Ottoman Army. Polish general Marian Langiewicz spent the last years of his life in Turkey, fought in the Ottoman Army and died in Istanbul, where he is buried at the Haydarpaşa Cemetery. Polish national poet Adam Mickiewicz spent the last months of his life in Istanbul and died there. The house where he lived was later transformed into the Adam Mickiewicz Museum.

There is also the Polish village of Polonezköy (Adampol) in Turkey. It lies on the Anatolian side of Istanbul and was settled in 1842 by Polish veterans of the November Uprising. In the 19th and 20th centuries further Polish settlers arrived. As of 2009, there is still a Polish minority in the village.[1]

Famous Turks with partial Polish ancestry include the poet and playwright Nâzım Hikmet, and the soprano opera singer Leyla Gencer.