President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally began his visit to Indonesia after an official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in the city of Bogor by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday.
Erdoğan arrived in the country late Tuesday from Malaysia. Like in Malaysia, the Turkish president was welcomed by a cheering public waving Turkish and Indonesian flags as he headed to his hotel from the airport.
Erdoğan and Subianto are scheduled to chair a meeting of the Turkish-Indonesian High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, oversee the signing of deals between the two countries, and hold a joint news conference. He will also attend a Turkish-Indonesian business forum. The president is accompanied by a delegation of ministers, high-ranking officials and representatives of the Turkish defense industry.
The two countries are holding their first High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) summit after agreeing to create the forum at a meeting in Bali in 2022.
Erdoğan’s state visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and Southeast Asia's largest economy, was his second stop in his Asia tour that began in Malaysia and will end in Pakistan.
“This meeting is the highest regular bilateral forum between the two countries where all matters of common interest will be discussed, including strategic issues and priorities,” said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Rolliansyah Soemirat ahead of the visit.
A Turkish statement said the discussions will be focused on current regional and global issues, particularly the war in Gaza.
On Monday, the Turkish leader met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and reiterated his opposition to a U.S. proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and said Israel should pay for the territory's reconstruction.
“We do not consider the proposal to exile the Palestinians from the lands they have lived in for thousands of years as something to be taken seriously,” Erdoğan said.
Indonesia and Türkiye have built an increasingly close relationship in recent years, and the two leaders previously met in Ankara last July when Subianto was still president-elect and defense minister. Subianto pledged to “elevate defense cooperation and other strategic fields for mutual benefit.”
The two countries signed a defense cooperation agreement in 2010, under which Indonesia’s state-run arms producer Pindad and Türkiye’s FNSS jointly developed a new model of medium tank. In 2023, the two countries inked a plan of action for joint military exercises and defense industry cooperation.
In addition to Indonesia, Türkiye has HLSCC cooperation forums with 21 other countries, including Pakistan.
Türkiye and Indonesia plan to sign agreements on trade, investment, education and technology during Erdoğan’s visit.
Erdoğan will head on to Pakistan on Wednesday, where he and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will address the Pakistan-Türkiye Business and Investment Forum and attend another HSLCC meeting.
