After a busy domestic schedule, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will leave for his trip abroad in weeks with a three-nation Asia tour. Between Feb. 10 and Feb. 13, Erdoğan will visit Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan. Erdoğan’s meetings in those countries will focus on enhancing cooperation in various fields, as well as hot topics on the international agenda, from the Palestine-Israel conflict to the situation in Syria, where the decades of Baathist regime rule came to an end last December, as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Erdoğan’s first stopover will be Malaysia, which he last visited in 2019. That visit led to a renewed momentum in Turkish-Malaysian relations. Malaysia, a member of the Organization 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 has an interest in maritime defense products produced by Turkish companies in particular. 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 (328.08 feet), a displacement of 2,500 tons, a maximum speed of 26 knots, a helicopter landing platform and capacity for more than 100 personnel.
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 by Türkiye since 2013. 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.
In Indonesia, Erdoğan will likely focus on talks to increase bilateral trade volume to $10 billion from around $1.5 billion. The two countries have a high-level consultation council and enjoy particularly tight cooperation in education. Türkiye hosts some 4,500 Indonesian university students. Erdoğan’s visit will also focus on cooperation in the economy, culture, security, and technology.
Defense companies of Türkiye and Indonesia have already signed a deal to produce 18 tanks for the Indonesian army. Ten of them will be manufactured in Türkiye, while others will be manufactured in Indonesia.
Erdoğan’s last stopover will be Pakistan, whose relations with Türkiye reached the highest level under successive tenures of the Turkish president. Two countries particularly increased cooperation in the defense industry, with deals signed on the acquisition of naval vessels and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Pakistan was the first country to sign a deal to purchase Türkiye’s nationally-made naval vessels as part of the MILGEM (National Ship) project.
In 2019, Türkiye launched its Asia Anew initiative to bolster ties with the Asian countries. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, it aims to capitalize on potential opportunities for cooperation with Asian countries. The initiative covers a policy based on common interests and objectives through regional, sub-regional and country-specific approaches.
