Istanbul / Anadolu

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Tuesday that Turkey has been accepted as a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Fidan said in a post on his account on the American platform "X": "Today we have achieved another important result in our foreign policy, which we pursue under the leadership of our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan), and which is capable of viewing the world and events from multiple angles and influencing the international agenda and world order."

He explained that the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries, during their meeting in the Philippine capital Manila, took a decision to accept Turkey as a dialogue partner of the association.

Fidan also thanked the foreign ministers who supported this process, as well as the Philippines as the rotating chair of the association, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

He stressed that this development is of great importance in terms of strengthening Turkey's influence in the Asia-Pacific region, which is the eastern axis of global diplomacy, advancing its long-term strategy towards the ASEAN region, and completing ongoing projects.

Fidan noted that since 2017, when the foundations of institutional relations between Turkey and ASEAN were laid, the volume of trade between the two sides has risen from $6.5 billion to $16 billion.

Fidan explained that Turkey's acquisition of dialogue partner status with ASEAN will contribute to deepening political and economic cooperation between Turkey and the association's member countries, which have a population of about 700 million people and an economy exceeding $4 trillion.

ASEAN was founded as an economic organization on August 8, 1967, in the Thai capital Bangkok, and includes 10 countries: Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos.