President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad held a joint press conference at the Presidential Complex following their talks.

Prior to the press conference, Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad was decorated with the Order of the Republic of Turkey.

Stating that Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad has been a doyen statesman, President Erdoğan said: "It is a privilege for us to host him once again as the Prime Minister after 25 years."

"We will further strengthen our cooperation with Malaysia in issues like the Palestinian cause"

President Erdoğan underscoring that Malaysia has been given special importance within the framework of the sectoral dialogue partnership with ASEAN.

Stating that they have displayed a shared stance in the face of such issues as the Rohingya crisis, Islamophobia, and the Palestinian cause, in particular, President Erdoğan noted that they will further strengthen cooperation with Malaysia in these issues.

"We will continue to support the improvement of the Turkey-Malaysia-Pakistan trilateral cooperation process, launched at foreign ministerial level with Mr. Mahathir’s proposal."

Drawing attention to the great potential between the two countries in the area of trade, President Erdoğan said increasing the trade volume and investments, together with the enhancement of the cooperation between Turkey and Malaysia in the defense industry have been on top of the agenda during the talks. "The two countries should rapidly achieve the bilateral trade volume goal of 5 billion dollars."

President Erdoğan went on to say: "Besides our cooperation in politics and trade, we attach importance to the steps we can take in the areas of culture, arts, tourism, and education to further strengthen our social relations. We will, inshallah, see in the period ahead that the cooperation between Turkey and Malaysia will improve in all areas."

Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, for his part, said: "We see things in the same way with Turkey, in particular with regard to the problem of Palestine for example. We have the same stance. And, it is important for us to show the world that Malaysia and Turkey have the same view of the problem faced by the Palestinians."

Visa-free travel to Russia

Answering reporters' questions following the press conference, President Erdoğan, in response to a question regarding Turkish citizens' visa-free travel to Russia, said President Vladimir Putin of Russia has already given the good news on this issue, and noted that Turkish citizens will be offered visa-free travel to Russia from now on, as it has been announced.

The President further stressed that visa-free travel is the fruit of the dialogue and warm relations between the two countries.

President Erdoğan met with Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad during a dinner following the press conference. (ILKHA)