Türkiye and Malaysia can contribute significantly to solving regional and global problems by working together in multilateral forums, according to the Turkish foreign minister.
These remarks were expressed by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in an exclusive article for the Malaysian daily The New Straits Times, which was published on Wednesday, one day before his two-day visit to Malaysia at the invitation of his counterpart, Saifuddin Abdullah.
In the piece, he expressed hope that his visit would "pave new avenues of cooperation and strengthen existing ones" and hailed longstanding and promising cooperation between the two countries.
He noted that Türkiye, as a sectorial dialogue partner of ASEAN and in line with its "Asia Anew" initiative, aims at fully realizing opportunities with Asian countries.
When Ankara launched the Asia Anew initiative in 2019, Çavuşoğlu said Türkiye wanted to "further enhance its relations with Asia, which is becoming the world's economic center, in multiple dimensions."
Experts believe the initiative is a step toward reshaping Türkiye's future diplomacy, a country that straddles the two continents and, as Çavuşoğlu stated at the time, "is a bridge between the East and the West."
"To this end, Malaysia, with its key position in its region and within ASEAN, has a special place in our ties with the continent," the Turkish minister added.
ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia that promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political and sociocultural integration among its members in the Asia-Pacific region.
Affirming to achieve a trade volume target of $5 billion soon, Çavuşoğlu noted that the two countries aim to realize "mutual commitment in fulfilling the considerable potential in trade and elevate it to greater levels."
Despite being separated geographically, Türkiye and Malaysia remain closely connected by common values and objectives, Çavuşoğlu said, expressing confidence that the two countries will "further deepen their multi-dimensional relationship in the coming years by drawing upon the strength and support of their people."
