Turkey has gained the chairmanship of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) for the next two years after the decision was officially declared on Thursday during an executive meeting held in Cambodia.
The two other candidates for the chairmanship were Pakistan and China, but the committee announced Turkey as the winner.
While declaring Turkey's chairmanship for the APA, Pakistani senator Mushahid Hussain's words for Turkey's president shocked everyone in the session, saying that, ''Asia has a lion, which is President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.''
Meanwhile, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) was designated as a terrorist organization in the same meeting.
"The Asian Parliamentary Assembly is ready to give all means of support to the democratically-elected Turkish government in its struggle against FETÖ, as well as in efforts to maintain democracy, justice, security and stability in the country," Hussain said in the final statement of the meeting.
The Asian Parliamentary Assembly, which was founded in 2006, has 41 member countries and plays a strategic role in the Asia-Pacific region.
Among the members are leading countries like China, Russia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, along with 20 other observers.
Recently, Turkey also gained another chairmanship for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Energy Club in 2017, being the first non-SCO country to do so.
After tensions increased between Turkey and the European Union (EU) following the European Parliament's (EP) decision to freeze the negotiation talks with Turkey, the diplomatic traffic and developments between Turkey and Eurasian or Asian organizations have increased.
