Strengthening Malaysia–Turkiye Ties Gives Meaning To Strategic Friendship - PM Anwar

From Muhammad Saufee Rosman

ANKARA, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Strengthening bilateral relations between Malaysia and Turkiye will give real meaning to the value of the strategic friendship shared by both countries, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said his first official visit to Turkiye, which began on Tuesday and spans three days, focuses on substantive discussions aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation across various strategic sectors.

He said his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, scheduled for Wednesday, will centre on efforts to strengthen collaboration in areas including trade, investment, diplomacy, education, security, culture and tourism.

“I regard this visit as very important. The President joked with me that if I did not come, he would no longer want to be friends because he had already visited Malaysia, and I consider him a close friend,” he said in his speech at the ‘Sentuhan MADANI’ programme with the Malaysian Diaspora here on Tuesday.

About 200 Malaysians attended the event, including the Prime Minister’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir; Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani; Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; and Malaysian Ambassador to Turkiye Sazali Mustafa Kamal.

Erdogan had undertaken a two-day official visit to Malaysia in February last year.

Anwar said his first official visit to Turkiye comes after nearly three years in office as Prime Minister and fulfils Erdogan’s repeated invitations, reminding him not to delay the visit.

“However, I told him that even without an official visit, I had previously come to Turkiye twice, with the first visit taking place after the major earthquake that struck the country.

“After that, I stopped over here for several hours from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before travelling to Cairo, Egypt, to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as part of efforts to seek support and firm commitments among Islamic countries in defending the plight of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza,” he said.

Earlier, Anwar arrived at Esenboga International Airport here at 7.13 pm local time (12.13 am Malaysian time) to begin his official visit, which runs until Jan 8.

Malaysia’s total trade with Turkiye from January to November 2025 reached RM21.2 billion (USD4.92 billion), with the republic remaining an important economic partner.

In 2024, Turkiye was Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner, largest export destination and fourth-largest source of imports among West Asian countries, with total trade valued at RM24.15 billion (USD5.28 billion).

-- BERNAMA