Erdoğan: Turkey wants to become an ASEAN member
ANADOLU AGENCY
JAKARTA
Published 9 hours ago
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told media during a three-day trip to Indonesia on Friday that Turkey was ready to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) alongside his host nation. Speaking at a joint press conference in the capital, Jakarta, with Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, Erdoğan said as G20 members, both Indonesia and Turkey needed to mutually benefit from such memberships. "The Asia-Pacific region is increasingly important in the world economy, and we want to boost cooperation. We also would like to become a member of ASEAN," he added.
In a statement released after the meeting, Widodo said Indonesia was honored by Erdoğan's arrival and described their discussions as "open and productive." "We emphasized discussions in the area of economics. We agreed that trade barriers can be solved through a free trade agreement [FTA] that we do not have. We are targeting [the completion of an FTA] this year," Widodo said.
He stressed the two had also discussed cooperation in the military maintenance industry, in boat manufacturing and in the construction of natural gas power plants. "We aim to cement that cooperation immediately," he said. According to the statement published by detik.com, the two leaders also agreed to increase tourism and passenger transport from Turkey to Indonesia and vice versa, with a route planned to span Turkey-Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta-Denpasar. In addition, it said a joint commission would be established to explore the economic potential of further cooperation between the two countries.
Erdoğan, who touched down on Thursday night after a three-day trip to China, was accompanied by a delegation of Turkish business leaders and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu and Transport Minister Feridun Bilgin. On Saturday - when Erdoğan's official trip is set to conclude - Çavuşoğlu will head to Malaysia for the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which runs from Aug. 1-3.
Established in 1967 in Bangkok, ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
According to the Foreign Ministry website, institutional relations between Turkey and the Southeast Asian group were initially established in 2010 when Turkey became a signatory of the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, "and thus the foundation of sectoral cooperation was laid down." Since then, Turkey's Embassy in Jakarta has been accredited to ASEAN as a result of efforts put forward for appointing an ambassador to the association.
Erdoğan: Turkey wants to become an ASEAN member - Daily Sabah