The Turkish government is set to open a cultural center in Jakarta, as many Indonesians are interested in learning about the country’s language and culture.

“There is a most welcome and increasing demand by Indonesian society for Turkish language courses and Turkish culture,” the Turkish ambassador to Indonesia, Sander Gürbüz, said during a reception to commemorate the 93rd Turkish National Day on Thursday in Central Jakarta.

“In order to meet such demand, we are working to open a Turkish cultural center in Jakarta […],” he said.

The growing popularity of Turkish TV series in Indonesia has contributed to the increased interest in learning Turkish and in other parts of Turkey’s culture.

A survey by Nielsen Television Audience Measurement in 2015 revealed that Indonesian viewers spent 31 minutes more per view per day, on average, watching Turkish series than series from any other nation, including Indonesian TV drama or sinetron (soap operas). The most popular Turkish series is Elif.

The results indicated that during the survey period, 11 Turkish series were aired on TV, while at the same time there were 202 Indonesian titles, which gained an average of just 18 minutes per view.

Ambassador Gurbus said the Turkish government had provided more than 500 scholarships to Indonesian students.

“Sixty-three Indonesian students are at the moment studying higher education in Turkey with the Turkish scholarship program,” he said.

He said the number of visitors from Indonesia to Turkey reached 60,000 in 2015, while about 6,000 Turkish tourists visited Indonesia in the same year.

Gürbüz said bilateral relations between Turkey and Indonesia had grown considerably over recent years.

“[…] Both countries agreed to elevate the relationship to a strategic partnership in April 2011 when the 11th president of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, visited Indonesia meeting the sixth president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,” the ambassador said.

According to the Trade Ministry, Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of US$909 million in 2015 with total trade between Indonesia and Turkey worth $1.4 billion.

The value of Indonesian exports to Turkey in 2015 reached $1.1 billion, while imports reached $249 million.

“We believe that our bilateral trade volume will further increase in the coming years, paving the way for the realization of its true potential,” he said.

The Turkish Embassy in Jakarta opened in 1957.

“Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Indonesia in 1949 following its independence [proclaimed in 1945] from the Netherlands,” he said.

Turkey and Indonesia have cooperated on various multilateral forums including in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); the G20 group of large and expanding economies; the Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA) forum; and the Dialogue among Civilizations. (sha)

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