Jakarta. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently called Prabowo Subianto his “brother” in a letter that congratulated the latter for his election victory.

In the letter uploaded by Prabowo on his social media account, the document starts with “Mr. President, Dear Brother”. Erdogan then went on to say that he hoped the election results would be auspicious. 

“I wholeheartedly believe that we will further develop our relations, which are strengthened by our historical ties and common values, on the basis of our strategic partnership, for the benefit of our people in the period ahead,” Erdogan wrote in his letter to Prabowo.

“I would like to renew my best wishes for the personal health and happiness of your excellency and the well-being of the friendly and brotherly people of Indonesia,” Erdogan said.

In the caption, Prabowo said that he had received the letter from the Turkish Ambassador to Indonesia Talip Kucukcan.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks for the support and the friendship between our two countries,” Prabowo said.

Erdogan visited Bali in 2022, during which Indonesia was at the helm of the G20. The incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also had bilateral talks with Erdogan on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Riyadh last November. Indonesia and Turkiye are currently pursuing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the goal of finishing the trade deal by this year. Government data shows that Indonesia-Turkiye trade amounted to $2.1 billion throughout 2023.

The latest real count of the ballots shows that the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka pairing has claimed 58.89 percent of the votes as of Thursday at 10 p.m. The data covers 75.26 percent of all polling stations. Prabowo has picked Jokowi’s son Gibran as his vice president.