Foreign relations of Turkey

Physically bridging Europe and Asia, Turkey is a secular country that has historically pursued a Western-oriented foreign policy. To this end, Turkey uses its global diplomatic network—the third most extensive—of 252 diplomatic and consular missions.

Since the Cold War, Turkey's most important ally has been the United States, which shared Turkey's interest in containing Soviet expansion. In support of the United States, Turkey contributed personnel to the UN forces in the Korean War (1950–1953), joined NATO in 1952, recognized Israel in 1949 and has cooperated closely with it.

Turkey's alliance with Israel during the Arab–Israeli conflict strained its relations with the Arab world, and Iran, and subsequently led to overt Syrian support for Palestinian and Armenian militant operations against Turkish diplomats abroad until 1990.