JAKARTA: Indonesia has pledged its support for Turkiye’s bid to become a full dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, following the first joint meeting between their foreign and defense ministers. 

The regional bloc currently has 11 dialogue partners, including India, Russia, and the US. The status, which grants recipients high-level access to the group’s annual summits, is seen as a way to spur cooperation across various areas, ranging from trade to maritime security. 

Indonesia announced its endorsement for Turkiye after Foreign Minister Sugiono and Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin met with their Turkish counterparts, Hakan Fidan and Yasar Guler, in Ankara on Friday. 

“Indonesia welcomes Turkiye’s objective to become ASEAN’s full dialogue partner, and we are ready to give our full support,” Sugiono said at a joint press conference, as quoted by Indonesian state news agency Antara. 

The UK, in 2021, was the last country to be granted dialogue-partner status by the 11 members of ASEAN, making it the first country to gain the recognition since 1996. 

Turkiye first established ties with ASEAN in 1999 and signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with ASEAN in 2010. 

Ankara long sought to become an ASEAN dialogue partner, but so far it has only been granted sectoral dialogue partner status — in 2017 — which focuses cooperation in specific areas and limits exchanges to lower-level meetings. 

Jakarta’s public endorsement for Turkiye is a significant development, experts say. 

“It could speed up the process for Turkiye to become a full dialogue partner, almost akin to a guarantee that this new partner will benefit the region,” Dr. Dinna Prapto Raharja, an expert on international relations and founder of public policy think tank Synergy Policies, told Arab News on Saturday. 

ASEAN is likely to benefit from Turkiye’s active role in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. 

“As a partner country, and with well-managed relations, Turkiye can be a source of information and bridge of partnership with other regions,” Raharja said. 

“The most immediate benefit is the sharing of strategic information on everything under geopolitical consideration and approaches adopted by countries in other regions, like Eurasia, Africa or Europe, and also Turkiye’s perspectives on these matters… This information is valuable, and (can) help us find the right way to safeguard Indonesia’s and ASEAN’s interests in the current geopolitical situation.” 

Indonesia’s role as one of ASEAN’s founding members and its status as the region’s most populated nation and biggest economy makes its support for Turkiye’s bid “very important,” said Teuku Rezasyah, international relations expert and lecturer at President University. 

Turkiye’s status upgrade with ASEAN would also be an opportunity for Indonesia to further its bilateral cooperation with Ankara across various sectors, particularly in defense and security, he told Arab News. 

Last year, the two countries signed a number of defense deals, including an agreement to set up a jointly operated drone factory and the purchase of KAAN fighter jets from Turkiye. 

The deals could be realized “much sooner than expected,” once Turkiye becomes ASEAN’s dialogue partner, Rezasyah said. 

“I expect Turkiye will soon become a dialogue partner, considering that the consultation and consensus mechanism among ASEAN’s 11 members is a mere formality,” he said.