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Messages from President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Turkey
Indonesia and Turkey are well-suited to serve as bridge-builders in today's increasingly polarized global landscape.
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Historic partnership: President Prabowo Subianto (right) sits with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Friday in Antalya, Turkey. (Reuters/Kaan Soyturk)
I
n Ankara last week, President Prabowo Subianto delivered his first inaugural address before a parliament during a state visit. President Prabowo is the third Indonesian president to receive the distinguished honor of speaking before the Turkish Parliament, following president Sukarno (1959) and president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2010). There are world leaders who have also addressed the Turkish Parliament, which include King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2000; the United States President Barack Obama in 2009; and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2024.
Increased cooperation between the two countries
President Erdogan and the people of Turkey welcomed President Prabowo warmly, similar to the atmosphere President Erdogan experienced during his visit in Jakarta last February. President Erdogan personally greeted President Prabowo at the airport.
At the hotel, President Prabowo was also awaited by the Indonesian diaspora and students who are working and studying in Turkey. In a decade, the number of Indonesians studying in Turkey has grown tenfold, from 500 to more than 5,000. This highlights the fact that people-to-people relations between Indonesia and Turkey have grown significantly, which understandably then serves as a foundation for a more strategic cooperation between the two countries.
Welcome messages on banners and large video screens were displayed throughout Ankara, the capital city. At the State Palace, President Prabowo was also welcomed by a cavalry unit and one of Indonesia's independence struggle songs, "Halo-Halo Bandung”.
The choice of welcoming song by the Turkish counterpart cannot be more apt. Bandung is the city where Indonesia hosted the Asia-Africa Conference back in 1955 and this April marks its 70th anniversary.
The conference was a platform for the newly independent states to search and identify their place in the new world amid the dire political and economic consequences of World War II.
