President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo met on Monday to exchange views on bilateral relations in Indonesia's Bali island, as the two countries inked several agreements in various fields to further enhance bilateral cooperation, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.
Erdogan and Widodo discussed all aspects of the bilateral ties between Türkiye and Indonesia, and steps to enhance cooperation.
The Turkish president thanked Widodo for the "successful" term presidency of the G-20 and extended his support for Indonesia's assuming MIKTA's term presidency from Türkiye next April.
Established in 2013, MIKTA is a partnership made up of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Australia. All five countries in the group are G-20 members.
"The high-level strategic cooperation council mechanism that we have established together today is of historic importance for our bilateral relations," he added.
Also, Türkiye and Indonesia inked two agreements and five memorandums of understanding with boosting bilateral cooperation in their sights as top Turkish officials visit the country for a summit of the G-20.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said the event highlighted "the strength and the depth" of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
"The agreements signed today are not just (about) government-to-government cooperation in various strategic sectors such as in the field of defense," Subianto said, adding that they also sought to step up cooperation between businesses.
He said the ties between the two countries provide "concrete deliverables for the benefit and prosperity of the people of both Indonesia and Türkiye."
Hoping for the accords to be "swiftly implemented," the Indonesian defense chief said they would "inspire and motivate" other deals, especially for free trade.
On the bilateral meeting between the Turkish and Indonesian presidents, he said the two leaders would "announce a new level of cooperation, with the formation of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council."
"This is an important milestone in the Indonesia-Türkiye relationship since the establishment of the Indonesia-Türkiye Strategic Partnership in 2012," he said.
For his part, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hailed ties between the two countries, saying there had been "great progress in our ties in recent years."
"We will soon witness a historic moment in our relations as our presidents will establish the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council," he added.
After affirming that the deals would further strengthen relations in many fields including the defense industry, research, forestry, environment, and development, Cavusoglu congratulated Indonesia for its successful G-20 chairpersonship.
"As two major powers in the Islamic world, our cooperation is vital for all Muslims worldwide," Cavusoglu added.
At the event, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Subianto inked one of the agreements in the field of defense, with another focused on forestry signed between the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye.
One of the five memorandums of understanding that were also initialed at the event was on research, technology, and innovation cooperation.
Another was signed in the field of environment, while a third was on development cooperation.
Joint production and distribution of electric buses were the focus of the fourth memorandum of understanding, while the last was on the development of the trans-Sumatera toll road, currently under construction to stretch across the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The meeting came ahead of the G-20 summit, which will be held on Nov. 15-16 under the theme "Recover Together-Recover Stronger."
Erdogan arrived in Indonesia's Bali Island on Monday to attend the G-20 summit. He was welcomed at Ngurah Rai International Airport by Indonesia's Minister of State Secretariat Pratikno, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi, and Governor of Bali Wayan Koster as well as Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Cemil Miroglu.
The president is accompanied by first lady Emine Erdogan, Cavusoglu, Akar, Treasure and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirishci, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın, Defense Industries Presidency head Ismail Demir and ruling Justice and Development Party spokesperson Omer Celik.
On Nov. 15, Erdogan will attend the first session on food and energy security and address all leaders and delegation heads.
Following lunch with G-20 leaders, Erdogan will attend the second session on health and will address the participants.
On the final day of the summit, the president will hold bilateral meetings and hold a press conference.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union are G-20 member states. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Bali to attend the summit on behalf of President Vladimir Putin.
Türkiye and Indonesia enjoy close and multifaceted relations, with a wide range of opportunities for further cooperation. Indonesia, which is the world’s third-largest democracy, is also the most populous Muslim-majority country and occupies a strategic location between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.
Türkiye was one of the first nations that recognized Indonesia’s independence. Diplomatic relations were established in 1950 and the Turkish Embassy in Jakarta opened on April 10, 1957.
With the increase of mutual high-level visits since 2004, the bilateral relations gained new momentum and both countries decided to upgrade their ties to a strategic partnership. The two countries signed the joint declaration “Türkiye and Indonesia: Toward an Enhanced Partnership in a New World Setting” in Jakarta in April 2011.
The official visit of President Widodo to Türkiye in July 2017 has brought new perspectives to the bilateral cooperation, especially in the spheres of trade, health care, energy and the defense industry.