Türkiye has been diversifying its foreign policy from a Western-centered outlook to a more comprehensive approach in the past 20 years, establishing and reviving ties with countries in Africa, East Asia and Latin America. However, ties with Southeast Asia, especially with like-minded regional allies such as Malaysia and Indonesia, have uniquely become prominent.
As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put it on Wednesday: “As the world changes, as new power centers emerge in economy, production and technology, we have to adapt to this. There is nothing more natural than strengthening our cooperation with the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean geographies, among which three of the world’s top five economies take place.”
Türkiye first put forth its will to develop ties with the region in a concrete framework through the Asia Anew Initiative, announced in 2019, although more is needed to fill its content. Moreover, it became a sectoral dialogue partner with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2017. It is expected that ties with these countries and platforms will grow in the upcoming period.
The cooperation with ASEAN members remains mainly on the side of economic and trade relations, yet the partnership with two members also stands out in other fields: Malaysia and Indonesia.
Ankara is focusing its ties with Malaysia and Indonesia on three main fields: cooperation in strategic areas, defense and military cooperation, as well as carving out policies as leading countries in the Islamic world.
Since raising its ties with these two to a strategic partnership level, Türkiye has scrutinized cooperation in more strategic areas such as energy and science. Turkish and Indonesian companies exploring to work together in the field of geothermal energy is one example of the growing ties. Türkiye also signed its first free trade agreement (FTA) with an ASEAN member, Malaysia, and is currently in talks for a similar one with Indonesia.
On the other hand, the most notable and closely watched partnership is probably in the defense industry. Here, sales, joint production, and road maps to develop each other’s defense industry are in play. Besides drone sales or the production of armored vehicles, Türkiye has also recently signed a major deal with Malaysia to provide it with three Corvette warships.
Lastly, Türkiye, Indonesia and Malaysia share a similar perspective when it comes to global issues, such as the fight against terrorism, rising Islamophobia or regional conflicts such as the Gaza war. This like-minded perspective has driven these countries to cooperate in platforms such as the U.N., the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the D-8 and will continue to do so in new platforms such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) alliance, in which Türkiye and Malaysia are currently interested. Kuala Lumpur is also being invited into the Türkiye-Azerbaijan-Pakistan mechanism as a partner. In the face of shifting global dynamics, rising competition between the U.S. and China and the comeback of security challenges, these three countries are set on sticking together and becoming the global voice for the Global South and Muslim world.
The importance Ankara attaches to those countries can be seen in the Turkish defense minister attending and speaking at the receptions of Malaysia and Indonesia – a rare event – and the recent high-level visit of Yaşar Güler and the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ibrahim Kalın, to Malaysia and Indonesia in August. According to sources, this visit has also served as a preparation for Erdoğan’s visit to these countries, possibly in December.