UPDATE - Turkish, Indonesian presidents meet in Bali for talks on ties

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT; ADDS BACKGROUND; CHANGES HEADLINE

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo met on Monday to exchange views on bilateral relations on Indonesia's Bali island.

Erdogan and Widodo discussed all aspects of the bilateral ties between Türkiye and Indonesia, and steps to enhance cooperation.

Erdogan thanked Widodo for the "successful" term presidency of the Group of 20 and expressed pleasure for Indonesia's assuming the MIKTA term presidency from Türkiye next April.

Established in 2013, MIKTA is a partnership made up of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkiye, and Australia. All five countries in the group are G-20 members.

"The high-level strategic cooperation council mechanism that we have established together today is of historic importance for our bilateral relations," he added.

Türkiye and Indonesia signed five agreements in the areas of defense, environment and forestry to develop bilateral relations further.

Türkiye was one of the first nations that recognized Indonesia's independence, and the diplomatic relations were established in 1950.

The meeting came ahead of the G-20 summit which will be held on Nov. 15-16 under the team of "Recover Together – Recover Stronger."