Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is set to receive an official visit by his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan next week.

Erdogan visited Indonesia in 2022 when Southeast Asia's largest economy presided over the G20 during Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's presidency. During his last visit, both countries agreed to establish the so-called High-Level Strategic Council.

“Erdogan will visit Indonesia on Feb. 11-12. During his visit, the two leaders will lead the first High-Level Strategic Council meeting. … This is a bilateral forum meant to address all issues of common concerns,” Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Rolliansyah “Roy” Soemirat told reporters in Jakarta on Friday.

Roy said that the two governments were “still working on the details” of the bilateral issues that the meeting would address.  

Indonesia and Turkiye are part of the G20, a group of major economies that represent 75 percent of international trade. Government data shows Indonesia-Turkiye trade amounted to almost $2.4 billion throughout 2024, up from $2.1 billion recorded in the previous year. They are currently negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement.

Prabowo had already held bilateral talks with Erdogan in Ankara last July when he was still the defense minister. The Ankara trip was also Prabowo’s chance to properly introduce himself as the successor to Jokowi, who had led the country for a decade. Prabowo told Erdogan at the time that Turkiye is an “important country” and a “friend” to Indonesia. Retired army general Prabowo also called Turkiye a “partner in the defense sector”.

It is likely that their upcoming meeting will address defense cooperation, given Prabowo’s military background and existing partnerships. In 2023, both countries had inked a plan of action targeting potential joint military exercises and defense industry cooperation. State-run arms producer Pindad has also teamed up with its Turkish counterpart FNSS to jointly develop medium tank Harimau.

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