Zimbabwe Officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia,^[13] is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 14 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages,with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most common.

Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms such as the Rozvi and Mthwakazi kingdoms, as well as being a major route for migration and trade. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during 1890 when they conquered Mashonaland and later in 1893 Matabeleland after a fierce resistance by Matabele people known as the First Matabele War. Company rule ended in 1923 with the establishment of Southern Rhodesia as a self-governing British colony. In 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established universal enfranchisement and de jure sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980. Zimbabwe then joined the Commonwealth of Nations, from which it was suspended in 2002 for breaches of international law by its then-government under Robert Mugabe, and from which it withdrew in December 2003. The sovereign state is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It was once known as the “Jewel of Africa” for its great prosperity.

Relations between Turkey–Zimbabwe

In the framework of its Policy of Opening Up to Africa, Turkey opened its Embassy in Harare in 2011. The opening of the Turkish Embassy had a positive effect on the bilateral relations and the frequency of high-level contacts have increased. Zimbabwe has opened an embassy in Ankara on 3 October 2019.

The bilateral trade volume reached 17,7 million USD in 2019 (Turkish exports: 5.9 million USD, Turkish imports: 11,8 million USD). Zimbabwe’s main export items are platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, iron, textile and ready wear whereas machinery and vehicles, other finished products, chemicals, fuel and foodstuffs are the main imports.

Through Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Turkey is providing development assistance to Zimbabwe in various domains.

Since 1992, government of Turkey grants scholarships to students from Zimbabwe.