Mozambique–Turkey relations

Mozambique–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Mozambique and Turkey. Turkey has an embassy in Maputo since March 15, 2011 while Mozambique's ambassador in Rome is also accredited to Turkey.

Mozambique-Turkey relations

Mozambique	Turkey

Diplomatic Relations

Turkey was initially sympathetic towards Eduardo Mondlane, a U.S-educated moderate socialist founded Frente de Libertação de Moçambique to launch armed struggle against the Portuguese even though Turkey continued to outwardly support NATO-ally Portugal. Relations between Mozambique and Turkey became very tense when Samora Machel, a hardline Marxist, became Frente de Libertação de Moçambique’s leader. Under Samora Machel, Frente de Libertação de Moçambique was notorious for giving the white Mozambicans the infamous “24/24 order”—leave in 24 hours with 24 kilos (or 53 pounds) of belongings—and nationalized most large private and church holdings. With Soviet assistance, Samora Machel persecuted northern tribes and the Catholic Church and was responsible for between 10,000 and 100,000 deaths at that time.

Following a diplomatic thaw between Samora Machel and the U.S. Reagan in 1985, Turkey started to provide Mozambique with economic assistance, which continued after Samora Machel's successor Joaquim Chissano sped up the liberalization of the economy and announced the end of the Marxist system.

In September 2023 Turkey and Mozambique signed a defense cooperation agreement, highlighting the growing military and defense industry ties between the two countries. This agreement was signed by Haluk Gorgun, the president of the Turkish Defence Industry Agency, and Mozambique’s Defence Minister, Cristovao Artur Chume, in Ankara.

Economic Relations

• Trade volume between the two countries was 153 million USD in 2019.
• Turkish FDI accounts for 19% of the total FDI in Mozambique.

See also

• Foreign relations of Mozambique
• Foreign relations of Turkey

Further reading

• Abrahamsson, H., and A. Nilsson. Mozambique: The Troubled Transition from Socialist Construction to Free Market Capitalism. London: Zed, 1995.
• Ansprenger, Franz, ed. Wiriyamu: Eine Dokumentation zum Krieg in Mozambique. Munich: Kaiser, 1974.
• Cabrita, João M. Mozambique: A Tortuous Road to Democracy. New York: Palgrave, 2000.
• Egero, Bertil. Mozambique and Southern Africa Struggle for Liberation. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1985.
• Finnegan, William. A Complicated War: The Harrowing of Mozambique. New ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
• Hanlon, John. Mozambique: The Revolution under Fire. London: Zed, 1984.
• Henriksen, Thomas. Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Mozambique. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1983.
• Hoile, David. Mozambique: A Nation in Crisis. London: Claridge, 1989.
• Hume, Cameron. Ending Mozambique's War: The Role of Mediation and Good Offices. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1994.
• Isaacman, Allen and Barbara Isaacman. Mozambique: From Colonialism to Revolution, 1900–1982. Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1983.
• Schneidman, Witney W. “Conflict Resolution in Mozambique.” In David R. Smock, ed. Making War and Waging Peace: Foreign Intervention in Africa. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1993.
• Vines, Alex. Renamo: Terrorism in Mozambique. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
• Wheeler, Jack, “Mozambique.” In Michael Radu, ed. The New Insurgencies: Anticommunist Guerrillas in the Third World. New Brunswick, N.J. 1990.