News Focus: RI, TURKEY OPENING NEW CHAPTER IN BILATERAL TIES By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 30 (ANTARA) - Indonesia and Turkey are opening a new chapter in their 60-year old ties by promoting cooperation in the economic and political fields as well as in other sectors of common interest such as democracy and global issues.

"Let us open a new chapter in our relations that keep increasing," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at a joint press conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul after their meeting at the Turkish presidential palace on Tuesday.

The two countries agreed to increase cooperation in five sectors and signed 8 cooperation accords which they expect to enable them to face challenges in the 21st century.

The agreements were reached by the two countries during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's three-day working visit from June 28 to June 30, 2010 to Turkey. He was the first Indonesian president to visit Turkey in the last 25 years.

"Actually cooperation between the two countries has existed for quite a long time but I hope it will be expanded in five areas," the President said when he addressed the Turkish parliament.

The two leaders agreed to step up cooperation in the five sectors, namely world economic reform, promoting harmony between civilizations, promoting democracy, the solution of conflicts and cooperation in dealing with global issues.

In the economic field, they among other things agreed to further boost cooperation in trade, tourism and investment.

"We are also inviting investors from Turkey to invest in various sectors in Indonesia such as geothermal energy, trade, economy and others," Yudhoyono said at the press conference.

Earlier, the two countries signed 8 cooperation accords. President Yudhoyono said the eight agreements that had been signed would open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in the fields of politics, defense industry, small and medium businesses, joint programs to increase investment and in news exchange between state television station TVRI and Turkish television.

"The eight cooperation documents are made up of five memorandums of understanding (MoUs), two agreements, and one program," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said.

In the trade sector, Indonesia and Turkey agreed to step up their bilateral trade from its current value at US$2.1 billion to US$5 billion over the next few years.

According to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Indonesia is not only a country with majority Muslim population but also a country which is rich in natural resources and economic potentials. "I even believe the US$5 billion target could grow to US$10 billion," President Gul said.

He said that it would be possible because of the Turkish characteristics which are similar to those of Indonesians and because the psychological relationship between the two nations was of very long standing.

In the field of tourism, the two nations agreed to scrap visa requirements and increase air-links.

President Gul said that Turkey wished for these relations to reflect on tourism and other areas, as well. Gul noted that the two countries had previously agreed to issue visas to both countries' nationals at the border and that now work began on scrapping the requirements totally.

"All this shows that opportunities to cooperate are vast despite the physical distance between our two countries. I wish for this visit to be very successful and for relations between Turkey and Indonesia to improve in every aspect," President Gul noted.

President Gul said now a Turkish airline had also opened a flight service between Jakarta and Istanbul enabling Asian people to go to Europe and vice versa. Therefore, visa cooperation between the two countries would be stepped up to become a free visa cooperation to promote visits between the two countries.

Besides the emphasis on the economic sector, the two nations also stressed the importance of increasing cooperation on issues of civilization, democracy, conflict solutions and other global issues.

In cooperation of promoting harmonization between civilizations, Indonesia and Turkey have a similarity in the role and dialogues between religious peoples and between the eastern and western civilizations and cooperate in building communication between civilizations.

"Promoting democracy, the third factor, does not mean we are exporting democracy, but sharing experience on democracy and learn from making mistakes from one another," President Yudhoyono said.

Turkey, he added, like Indonesia in the beginning of the 20th century underwent changes and reforms and develops into a strong democratic country.

In the area of conflict solution, he underlined the importance of the role of Turkey and Indonesia in helping solve the Palestinian problem. He touched on the tragedy of the Mavi Marmara humanitarian ship and expressed deep regret over the incident and demanded for a fair and transparent investigation.

"Israel also needs to open the illegal blockade of the Gaza strip as it promoted and triggered a humanitarian crisis which is against international law," Yuhoyono pointed out.

On the global issues, the President called on Indonesia and Turkey for their support in dealing with global issues like climate change, terrorism and other issues.

"I called on all of you to join hand in hand and cooperate in developing a better future," he said.