Türkiye Highlights Education, Defense Cooperation with Indonesia

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Turkey’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Talip Küçükcan, said cooperation in education, technology transfer, and defense will remain key priorities for Ankara and Jakarta--especially following the meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Hambalang, West Java, on Thursday, 4 June 2026.

Küçükcan noted that the discussions between Fidan and President Prabowo covered not only regional and global issues but also concrete steps to strengthen bilateral ties across several strategic sectors.

“The meeting between Türkiye and Indonesia was very warm and productive. They discussed regional issues, several global matters, and bilateral cooperation in defense, technology, and security,” Küçükcan said on the sidelines of World Breakfast Day on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at a Turkish restaurant in South Jakarta.

He added that Ankara sees its friendship and partnership with Jakarta continuing to grow in recent years. Both countries, he said, are working to ensure that ongoing cooperation programs progress as planned.

Education, Küçükcan stressed, will remain one of the areas receiving close attention. Beyond education, he sees strong potential for further collaboration in technology transfer and defense.

“Of course, we will continue to monitor everything related to education, as well as technology transfer and defense issues,” he said.

According to Küçükcan, Indonesia and Türkiye are currently enjoying their strongest diplomatic relations to date. He pointed to the increasingly frequent communication between President Prabowo and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who have exchanged visits in recent months.

“We are now experiencing the best diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Indonesia. Both Mr. Prabowo and Mr. Erdoğan have visited each other,” he said.

Küçükcan also believes the two countries have the opportunity to play a larger role on the global stage through deeper strategic cooperation. “We believe Türkiye and Indonesia can make a difference in international forums. That is why we are working together today,” he said.

He further revealed that Foreign Minister Fidan and President Prabowo also discussed the release of Indonesian citizens previously detained by Israel after joining the Flotilla Sumud humanitarian mission. Both sides reviewed the coordination carried out by their respective foreign ministries in handling the matter.

Meanwhile, Indonesia and Türkiye have begun discussing concrete steps to follow up on the outcomes of the Prabowo-Erdoğan meeting, said Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Stella Christie, who was present at the same event.

“We specifically discussed technology exchange. Some of it is already happening here. We also talked about expanding cooperation into STEM and medicine, which are areas President Prabowo places great importance on,” Stella said. (Diffa Sephiawardhani)