Türkiye’s 165 years of political relations with Portugal date back to the Ottoman period when Viscount de Seixal was appointed as an envoy to Istanbul, in 1843. Diplomatic relations ceased during World War I and were re-established in the Republican period in 1926. As a first step, the Turkish Embassy in Madrid was accredited to Portugal, as of 1931. In 1941, Türkiye and Portugal decided to open their resident representations in Lisbon and Ankara. Both countries upgradedthe level of diplomatic relations to that ofEmbassy in 1957.