After seizing power in the 1972 coup d'état, Major Mathieu Kérékou declared the People's Republic of Benin a Marxist-Leninist state and sought financial support from communist governments in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Benin has also adopted a mediating role in the political crises in Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Togo and provided a contribution to the United Nations force in Haiti, all of which were indications of the country's growing confidence in the international community.
List of countries which Benin maintains diplomatic relations with: In September 2007, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened to attempt to resolve the dispute over two villages along the Benin-Burkina Faso border that remain from a 2005 ICJ decision.
[5] The two countries share an extensive cultural history by way of the Atlantic slave trade and the resulting importing of Vodou as a religious force in Haitian society.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 March 1974 when first Turkish Ambassador Mr. Talat Benler presented his credentials to President Mathieu Kerekou in Cotonou.
Refugees (country of origin): 9,444 (Togo) (2007) Transshipment point used by traffickers for cocaine destined for Western Europe; vulnerable to money laundering due to poorly enforced financial regulations (2008) This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook.