[1] The relations between Sri Lanka and Turkey existed before the founding of both modern-day nations.

[2] Turkey has historically been supportive[3] of Sri Lanka's commitment to nonalignment.

[4] Relations have generally been very friendly[5] — especially with the United National Party governments, such as the J. R. Jayewardene[5] government that gave Sri Lanka's foreign policy a decidedly Western[3] orientation.

Prior to that, relations were tense[6] with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party[7] government under Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who deeply mistrusted[7] the West and cultivated relations with China instead.

Then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.