Turkey (or the Ottoman empire) acknowledged Finland on the 21st of February 1918, during the visit of the Finnish delegation searching support for the new state. A member of the delegation, professor J.J. Mikkola described the reception the delegation received in the following words : "The hospitality and friendliness was as from a fairytale. Everyone from the sultan to the journalists treated us Finns as dear northern relatives of the Turks, whom they met again after separation lasting for thousands of years." This despite the fact that officially Finland, as an ex-grand duchy of Russia, was still at war with Turkey.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Finland were established on the 9th of December 1926 and there were negotiations on developing their mutual relations. First, Finland was represented in Turkey from abroad, either from Rome or Bukarest. Turkey appointed the first ambassador to Finland in 1926. For the first 20 years, the Turkish ambassador resided in Stockholm.
A trade agreement between Finland and Turkey was signed in the 1920's. In 1937 Finland established a post of commercial attaché in Istanbul. In August 1940 A.S. Yrjö-Koskinen was appointed as a special ambassador to Ankara.
