Turkey and Japan: Putting an Unshakable Friendship to Work

Japan and Turkey have a reciprocal visa exemption agreement. It allows both countries to allow short-term visitors such as tourists to enter without a visa and stay for up to 90 days.

Turkey is a tourism-driven country, and the number of foreign visitors it received in FY2024 was 62.26 million foreign visitors in FY2024. That is a 9.8% increase, year over year (YoY). Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom are the top three nationalities among its visitors.

There were also 130,000 Japanese visitors (+70.9% YoY), a sizable number, although not as many as European visitors. All Nippon Airways began direct flights between Tokyo and Istanbul in February 2025, and the number of tourists from Japan is still on the rise. A favorable exchange rate of Japanese Yen to Turkish Lira has helped. It has been moving from the 30-yen level to the 15-yen level, then to the 5-yen level over the past 10 years. Now it is at the 3-yen level. In other words, Turkey is now one of the few countries where Japanese tourists can greatly benefit from the exchange rate.

Meanwhile, the number of Turkish visitors to Japan in FY2024 doubled to 62,000 (+99.1% YoY). However, it is still less than half the number of Japanese tourists visiting Turkey. Turkey's consumer price index for July was +33.52% YoY, indicating strong inflationary pressure and continued currency depreciation. This depreciation of the Turkish Lira has made it difficult for Turks to travel abroad.

Turkish National 'Overstay' Problem

Despite the overall picture, since around 2004, the number of Kurdish people of Turkish nationality who entered Japan under the bilateral visa waiver began to increase. Many of these individuals stayed in Japan beyond their lawfully allowed 90 days and repeatedly applied for refugee status.

It takes no less than 27 months for the initial screening of refugees and no less than 10 months for appeals. Moreover, it is not possible to request deportation during the re-application process. It is no wonder that the number of refugee applicants is increasing.

Many of these Kurds are concentrated in tight communities in Kawaguchi and Warabi cities in Saitama. A serious problem now is that the lives of residents in those areas have been threatened by the noise, garbage, unlicensed hit-and-runs, and sexual assaults caused by some of these Kurds.

*Foreign residents gather to fight late at night. (Photo provided by a resident of Kawaguchi City)*

In 2024, the National Diet finally took up the issue, and the deportation of illegal aliens has since begun. Furthermore, in August 2025, the governor of Saitama Prefecture requested the government to suspend all visa exemptions.

Bound by Humanitarian Rescue

Some might worry that the mindless and illegal acts of some Kurds of Turkish nationality may worsen Japanese feelings toward Turkey. However, the friendship between Japan and Turkey is strong and not cause for concern. This can be confidently stated by two stories that describe the bilateral friendship between our countries.

One is the incident on September 16, 1890, when the warship Ertugrul ran aground and sank in a typhoon off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture. It was on its way home from a mission to deliver a letter of invitation from the Ottoman Emperor to Emperor Meiji. Although more than 587 people were killed, local residents of Kushimoto worked tirelessly and rescued 69 people.

This rescue operation impressed the Turkish people so much that they still talk about it today. In 1891, a tombstone and cenotaph were erected at a new cemetery in Kushimoto Town. These were paid for by donations from the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture and other Japanese volunteers.

Then, in 1937, by the decision of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, the republic undertook a major renovation of the gravesite and erected a new cenotaph in Kushimoto Town. A cenotaph was also erected in the city of Mersin, southern Turkey, in 1972.

Kushimoto in Wakayama Prefecture continues to hold a grand memorial service every five years in cooperation with the Republic of Turkey. The Japanese town and Mersin City also share a sister city relationship.

*Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s (public domain).*

Returning the Favor a Century Later

More than a century later, another act reinforced the ties between Japan and Turkey. It was inspired by the rescue of a Turkish ship in distress in the distant past by villagers of a small Japanese fishing village.

This is the story of the Turkish government's decision to extend a helping hand to Japanese living in Tehran, Iran. It was during the Iran-Iraq War, and foreigners in the city were in danger.

On March 17, 1985, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced Iraq would indiscriminately attack planes flying over Iran. At that time, countries around the world dispatched rescue planes to rescue their own citizens in Iran. However, Japan was unable to do so.

Under the leadership of then-Prime Minister (later President) Turgut Ozal, the Turkish government took action on Japan's behalf. It dispatched a Turkish aircraft to Tehran to evacuate 215 Japanese nationals, not knowing whether the aircraft would be shot down. Their escape came just one hour before Iraq's indiscriminate attack overflying aircraft began.

Nearly 500 Turks were left at the airport while the Japanese were airlifted out. They escaped by land, and remarkably, no one blamed the government for their decision. Ninety-five years after the Ertugrul disaster, Turkey came to the rescue of the Japanese.

Mutual Support in Many Ways

These two inspiring stories have been passed down to posterity in various forms. Turkish Airlines produced a documentary film. In this film, the actual crew of the aircraft that went to rescue the Japanese in Tehran appears and talks about what happened. Also in 2015, a Japanese-Turkish film, "125 Years Memory Story of Friendship and Compassion," was co-produced. In Turkey, school textbooks still tell the story of the rescue efforts by the Japanese in the Ertugrul disaster.

The people of Kushimoto Town, Wakayama Prefecture, put their hearts into rescuing strangers on the stranded Ertugrul. And through labor, the Turkish government sent a Turkish aircraft to Tehran to rescue Japanese nationals nearly a century later. These events took place 135 years ago and 40 years ago, respectively.

Today, Istanbul has built strong new infrastructure with the financial and technical cooperation of Japan. They include a 1,510m long, 39m wide, eight-lane Second Bosphorus Bridge, and the 13.5km long, 60m below sea level undersea subway tunnel across the Bosphorus Strait. The former was completed in 1988 by IHI, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and other Japanese firms using "seismic isolation" technology. The latter was completed in 2016 by Taisei Corporation using the best of its technology.

Furthermore, IHI Infrastructure Systems was contracted to carry out large-scale repairs to the First and Second Bosphorus Bridges. Also, Chodai was involved in the construction of the Third Bosphorus Bridge as the construction manager.

Japanese firms have a prominent presence in infrastructure construction in Turkey, which is a strategic point connecting Asia and Europe. Underlying this business and economic connection, however, is the deeper relationship of trust and affection between the people of Japan and Turkey. This relationship has only grown since the Ertugrul disaster and cannot be so easily broken.　　　　　　　

Author: Yoshifumi Fukuzawa