Anwar: Malaysia, Türkiye to strengthen bilateral ties

31 May 2023

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to further strengthen Malaysia-Türkiye bilateral ties following Erdogan’s recent re-election.

The prime minister, in a Facebook posting, said this was one of the matters they discussed when Erdogan contacted him on Tuesday.

“We both agreed to strengthen Malaysia-Türkiye bilateral relations and are ready to elevate collaborations in various fields to a better and smoother level.

“I also took the opportunity to invite Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Malaysia in the near future,” said Anwar.

The prime minister said he also congratulated Erdogan for winning the recent presidential election.

Anwar said he admired Erdogan’s calmness and patience in facing various challenges en route to winning the election.

On the Facebook posting, the prime minister also shared a four-minute video clip of his telephone conversation with Erdogan, who was assisted by a translator.

Erdogan also expressed his commitment to take Malaysia-Türkiye bilateral relations to a higher level, to which Anwar agreed.

Bernama reported on Sunday that Erdogan won a decisive election by defeating his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Malaysia and Türkiye have established diplomatic ties since 1964.

Last year, Türkiye was Malaysia’s largest trading partner and export destination as well as the sixth largest source of imports among West Asian countries.

Source: Bernama