RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia and Turkey are working closely to manage a sharp rise in visa applications from Indonesian migrant workers seeking employment in Turkey.

The topic was discussed during a meeting at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Monday, April 6, 2026, attended by Deputy Minister of Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection (P2MI) Christina Aryani, Turkish Ambassador to Indonesia Talip Küçükcan, and Director General for American and European Affairs Grata Endah Werdaningtyas.

“Applications for work visas for Indonesian migrant workers to Turkey have increased significantly over the past year, almost doubling compared to the previous period,” Christina Aryani said in a press release, as quoted by Antara.

According to data shared by Ambassador Küçükcan, between November 2024 and April 2025, Turkey received around 6,700 applications. In the same period from November 2025 to April 2026, the number rose to approximately 12,000, with 6,500 still being processed.

Christina emphasized that this surge requires strategic measures to ensure smooth placement processes and avoid obstacles for Indonesian workers. She noted that Indonesia and Turkey already have a joint working group under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to anticipate and mitigate such challenges.

“Through this forum, we aim to formulate anticipatory and mitigation steps so that future placement processes can run more effectively and current obstacles can be minimized,” she explained.

Turkey acknowledged the contribution of Indonesian migrant workers, particularly in the tourism sector, which has become a backbone of its economy. The country recorded around 63.9 million tourist arrivals in 2025, underscoring the demand for labor in the industry.

“This shows that the need for workers in Turkey’s tourism sector is quite large, and Indonesian migrant workers have opportunities to contribute in this field,” Christina said.

She expressed hope that the meeting would produce concrete solutions to expedite visa processing.

“We hope there will be concrete solutions from this meeting so that our migrant workers who have been waiting can be served and depart safely and procedurally for work in Turkey,” Christina concluded. ***