President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received a warm welcome as he began his three-nation Asia tour on Monday with Malaysia. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim greeted Erdoğan and the Turkish delegation accompanying him as they disembarked the plane at the airport in Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking at the "Türkiye-Malaysia Strategic Cooperation in the New Century" meeting at Putrajaya International Convention Center, Erdoğan said Türkiye sought to deepen cooperation with Asian countries and praised Malaysia as a leading country in its region.
Erdoğan last visited Malaysia in 2019. That visit led to a renewed momentum in Turkish-Malaysian relations. Malaysia, a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), had joined the Gaza Contact Group of top diplomats alongside Türkiye in a bid to find a diplomatic solution to stop the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave.
Malaysia also maintains close cooperation with Türkiye in the defense industry and is interested in maritime defense products produced by Turkish companies. Leading Turkish defense company STM signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of three Turkish corvette warships by Malaysia last year. The ships will be delivered to the Malaysian Navy within three-and-a-half years and will have a length of nearly 100 meters (329 feet), a displacement of 2,500 tons, a maximum speed of 26 knots, a helicopter landing platform and capacity for more than 100 personnel.
In his speech, Erdoğan said he was thrilled and pleased every time he visited "friendly and brotherly" Malaysia and thanked Anwar Ibrahim and the people of Malaysia for their warm hospitality. He reiterated that relations between Turkish and Malay people can be traced back to the 16th century, and the two countries shared a set of common historical and cultural values. Erdoğan said that they marked the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and expressed faith in stronger cooperation through close relations in every field.
Malaysia is also a member of D-8. Formed in 1997 in Istanbul, the international body also includes Türkiye, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria. Additionally, it is an important partner and 2025 chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose summits have been participated in by Türkiye since 2013. The two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2014, the first between an ASEAN member country and Türkiye. The agreement covers services, investments and e-commerce. Over the years, Türkiye became a rising trade and investment partner for the Asian country, with commercial collaboration expanding particularly in the aerospace industry, chemical production and food production. In the past decade, Türkiye received important visitors from Malaysia, including the King of Malaysia in 2022.
"We are exerting efforts to build new partnerships and enrich our network of cooperation. In 2019, we declared our Asia Anew vision with emphasis on the rising significance of Asia and aims to strengthen our ties and cooperation with the continent," he said.
Erdoğan added that Malaysia always had an exceptional place in their vision. "We elevated our relations to strategic partnership level in 2014 and comprehensive strategic partnership level in 2022. We reinforced our cooperation with concrete steps befitting deep-rooted ties between our peoples. Malaysia, with a population of nearly 35 million people, a dynamic economy and skilled human resources, is a leading country in its region. We aim to enhance our relations with an approach based on technological cooperation and joint production. We will soon reap the fruits of (this cooperation)," Erdoğan said.
He gave the example of the Malaysian branch of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) that provided employment for more than 100 young Malaysian engineers. "Cooperation of our defense companies paved the way for the construction of the second batch of vessels. We also have a significant cooperation on Ankas," he said, referring to Turkish-made uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Erdoğan highlighted that the bilateral trade volume exceeded $5 billion in 2024, "in compliance with predetermined goals," and expressed hope to increase it to $10 billion "in a balanced way." "We aim to expand our cooperation in every sector, from semiconductor technologies to automotive, aerospace technology to civilian-use simulators and advance our ties with Malaysia in different fields. Our two countries have the exception of being gateways to Asia and Europe. In this context, we hope our air connections will be better," he said, giving an example of Malaysia running Türkiye's second biggest airport.
The president said they also valued the steps taken to cooperate between the two countries in the field of humanities. He noted that the region's biggest Turkish Culture Center, run by the Yunus Emre Institute, was in Malaysia, and the Maarif Foundation of Türkiye was working to establish a school there.
Speaking at the same event, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised Erdoğan for taking Türkiye to its deserved place in the international community. "Few statesmen have more resolve than Erdoğan. He led Türkiye's extraordinary transformation in over two decades and always had clear goals," he said. "His devotion should be an example. Erdoğan took Türkiye to another level and exerted significant efforts to make Türkiye a globally indispensable country," he said. He praised Erdoğan's bravery in pointing out the fact of genocide in Gaza at a time when principles and values were easily disregarded. “President Erdoğan understands that history does not look kindly upon the meek; it favors the brave,” he added. The prime minister also reiterated that Erdoğan and first lady Emine Erdoğan reached out to him while he was going through personal difficulties. "At a time when international actors turned their back to me, you supported me and I am grateful for that," Ibrahim said. Ibrahim was imprisoned for years on charges he decried as politically motivated before a 2022 election victory.
