The aero-optical (AO) effects generated by the unsteady flow field around a hemisphere-on-cylinder turret can cause deflection, jitter, and defocus of a laser beam, consequently degrading the optical performance of an airborne laser communication system. These negative effects have multi-frequency, multi-mode, and space-distributed characteristics, posing significant challenges to research in this area. To mitigate the AO effects around the turret, previous studies have investigated the generation mechanisms of AO effects and the corresponding flow controls and optical corrections. This paper reviews the engineering background and research framework for AO effects around a turret, summarizing the research progress of the flow/optical simulation methods, experimental measurement systems, and post-processing algorithms for the aberrated wavefront data. Additionally, this paper discusses the major progress and current understanding on the AO effects in terms of numerical simulations, experimental measurements, flow controls, and adaptive optics. Finally, the research progress on the AO effects around the turret is summarized, and some research references are provided for future outlook.