In a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday, the two leaders committed to promoting cooperation on intelligence and defense in accordance with the Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement of 2010.
Cooperation in the fields of security, particularly intelligence, police and special forces for combating terrorism, is considered important and needs to be improved as it is required to ward off international threats.
In the bilateral meeting, Vice President Kalla also expressed Indonesias support for Turkey as it prepares to host the 13th OIC Summit in April 2016.
Indonesia and Turkey are strategic partners since April 5, 2011, with reference to the document of "Indonesia-Turkey: Towards an Enhanced Partnership in a New World Setting," agreed upon by the former Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the former Turkish President, Abdullah Gul.
The document includes an agreement to increase cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including politics.
Indonesia and Turkey also have certain similarities as Muslim-majority countries and being active members of the G21, the OIC and D-8.
Economically, Turkey is the 7th largest trading partner of Indonesia with bilateral trade value of US$ 1.4 billion in 2015.
Moreover, Turkey is the 20th largest investor in Indonesia with an investment value of US$ 64.1 million dollars in 2014.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
