Nusa Dua (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Friday held a bilateral meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The two leaders discussed efforts to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries and witnessed the signings of several memorandums of understanding on cooperation in several fields.

Earlier, Yudhoyono held a bilateral talk with Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayid Erdogan for around 45 minutes, on the sidelines of the Fifth Bali Democracy Forum which was officially opened on Thursday.

Around 83 countries joined the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) V 2012, with 43 more countries participating this year as compared to those in 2009.

"The number of participants has increased as compared to the first BDF event in 2009. There were 40 countries in 2009, but today there are 83 countries," said the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, during his speech in the BDF V at Nusa Dua, Bali on Thursday.

"The BDF V 2012 is also attended by 11 country leaders including the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak," Marty added.

Other leaders attending the Forum are Brunei Darussalam`s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmao, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, and Prime Minister of Papua New Guniea Peter O`Neill.
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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