Turkish president, Malaysia's king meet in Ankara for talks

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday welcomed Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah with an official ceremony at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

The leaders held one-on-one talks followed by an official dinner in honor of the king.

Later on Tuesday, Erdogan awarded the Malaysian king with Order of the State of Republic of Türkiye -- the highest state order awarded to foreign nationals-- and the king gave Erdogan the Order of Chivalry.

This will be the “first visit from Malaysia to Türkiye at the Head of State level after nearly 30 years and will crown our bilateral relations,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

“High-level talks with Malaysia have gained momentum within the context of our relations, which get stronger and stronger in almost every area on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and the interests of our respective peoples,” the statement read.

Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Malaysia were established in 1964.

The countries signed a free trade agreement in 2014, which was Türkiye’s first with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Malaysian king and Queen Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah will be in Türkiye until Aug. 21.

Meanwhile, first lady Emine Erdogan expressed her pleasure to host the king and queen in Türkiye.

"I had the opportunity to introduce our Presidential National Library and the rare works in our archive to Queen Iskandariah," Erdogan said on Twitter.

She added that Türkiye included the Gastronomy Book of Queen, which consists of the local dishes of Malaysia, in the Malaysia section of the presidential library.