Marking the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations this year, the Turkish Embassy in Seoul will organize various cultural events ranging from a photo exhibition to storytelling for children and gastronomy, according to its top envoy to Korea.

The anniversary on March 8 marked an important milestone for both peoples, as Turkey also attaches significance to 60 years culturally, said Turkish Ambassador to Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal, in a briefing with reporters at the embassy.

“Reaching 60 years of age was considered a major feat in our culture, as life was much shorter in ancient times,” he said on March 2. The initiative was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the visit of former Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won to the Eurasian country in 2013. 

In May, a new embassy building will be inaugurated in Jung-gu district of Seoul as a detached five-story edifice, and a Turkey Day celebration will take place in Ankara Park in Yeouido, Seoul, with food, dance and concerts.

In June, Turkish paintings will be featured at the Central Bank of Korea building in Seoul through an exhibition. From June to August, a photographic exhibit titled “Turks in Korea” will be held at the War Memorial of Korea.

Activities for children involving storytelling and puppet shows are being planned at the National Library for Children and Young Adults in Seoul in July. In September, a Turkish food festival will be organized at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, and November will celebrate Turkish music and dance with performances by the “Colors of Anatolia” group at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

“Turkey-Korea relations stretch back hundreds of years, but the 1950-53 Korean War really sealed our ties by blood,” he stressed, adding Turkey did not hesitate to send troops under the United Nations Command. “Our soldiers earned a reputation as a tough and gallant fighting force, never giving up or retreating.”

Turkey dispatched 21,212 soldiers to defend South Korea’s freedom and democracy against the North Korean invasion. The Turkish Brigade fought some of the bloodiest battles and lost over 1,000 soldiers. Turkey endured the third-highest casualty rate among the participating nations of the US-led alliance.

During the 1999 earthquake in Turkey, where more than 20,000 people died, some 300 Korean politicians, intellectuals and opinion leaders took up the initiative to aid the country with cash and medical equipment, which led to the creation of the Turkey-Korea Friendship Association. Around 1,000 Turks currently live in Korea, 700 of them as permanent residents and the rest studying, working or doing business.

There are vibrant two-way student and academic exchanges with government and university scholarships, Okcal highlighted. The Bosphorus University in Istanbul and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have cooperation programs, as well as Ankara University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, and Istanbul University and Pusan National University.

Turkey and Korea established diplomatic relations in 1957. Since then, the two middle powers have deepened cooperation bilaterally as well as multilaterally, including through the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, G-20 and MIKTA, a five-way alliance involving Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia.

The two countries signed a bilateral free trade agreement in 2012, which went into force on May 1, 2013. Bilateral trade reached $6.1 billion last year, up from the $1.3 billion in 2000. Korean investment in Turkey is around $1.6 billion, and 300 Korean companies are operating in automobile manufacturing and sales, steelmaking and electronics.

The Eurasian Tunnel, an underground tunnel bridging Europe and Asia beneath the Bosporus Strait, was constructed by a Turkish-Korean consortium and opened on Dec. 20 last year. Another Turkish-Korean consortium recently won a bid to build the “1915 Canakkale Bridge,” which will be the world’s longest suspension bridge when it would be completed in 2023 coinciding with Turkey’s 100th republican anniversary.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)