VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara, on Friday (April 22, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenlu RI) - 

Turkey voiced strong support for Indonesia's G20 Presidency during a meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers in Ankara on Friday.

At the meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, discussed a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including economic and health cooperation, the war in Ukraine, the G20, and Palestine, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Saturday.

"With Indonesia's G20 Presidency and Turkey's power in MIKTA, we have a strategic role in addressing the challenges facing the world," Marsudi said.

MIKTA is an informal partnership of middle powers comprising Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia.

Regarding the G20, the two foreign ministers agreed on the importance of promoting the grouping’s priority agendas of overcoming the pandemic, building global health resilience, and pushing digital transformation and energy transition.

As the holder of the G20 Presidency, Indonesia will continue to work and foster communication and consultations with all member states. This would allow the G20 to continue to contribute significantly to global pandemic recovery efforts and mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine, she said.

The two foreign ministers agreed to hold a MIKTA meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in July 2022 as well as intensify communication, particularly on the situation in Ukraine and G20 member states.

They also agreed to step up bilateral cooperation in efforts to help the health and economic sectors recover from the impact of the pandemic.

"I hope the Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to be concluded soon in order to increase cooperation opportunities for the two countries," Marsudi said.

Touching upon the Ukraine crisis, she lauded Turkey's role in encouraging peace negotiations, reiterating the importance of putting an immediate end to the war in Ukraine, and pressing for peaceful ways to achieve solutions to the conflict.

The war in Ukraine has had a significant impact not only on humanity, but also on global food and energy stability.

Therefore, all countries must contribute to creating an environment and conditions conducive to peace, she said.

"Peace is expected to be reached through the negotiation table," she added//ANT