SETA hosted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on April 17th. The other special guest of the event was Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. The importance of the strategic partnership between the countries at the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, the significance of the free trade agreement which will be signed later today (April 17) and the necessity to further strengthen the ties were discussed in the lecture.

Taha Özhan started his welcoming speech by noting that this is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Malaysia. He then stated that especially in globalizing Asia new possibilities of Turkey – Malaysia relations which change dimensions and have the potential to expand to various fields need to be addressed. He further suggested in international arena within the framework of cooperation organizations such as OIC and ASEAN new opportunities of Turkey Malaysia relations are expected to be considered.

Later on, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu began his speech by emphasizing that the historic relations between the two nations are significant not only for the two parties but also for the Muslim world, Asia and international relations. He stated that the Strategic Partnership agreement signed in this January is not just words, but the relations will strengthen over time in every aspect, and an important sign for this is that the trade volume is expected to be 5 billion dollars in a decade while it was only 200 million dollars when AK party came to power. Apart from the economic relations, he said that the two countries are working shoulder to shoulder for peace and security in Asia, and to this end they are supporting each other for non-permanent seat in UNSC in 2015/16.

Najib Razak, who began his speech by mentioning their close friendship with Ahmet Davutoğlu, later evaluated the first 50 years of Turkey – Malaysia diplomatic relations. Razak, stated that the economic development that Turkey has undergone in the last decade is very promising and that Turkey and Malaysia are not only the bridges between the East and the West but also they share many commonalities economically and culturally and that the current cooperation in many areas should be strengthened. Razak further maintained that this cooperation will not only serve the two countries but also may contribute to the solution of the problems of the Muslim world. He suggested that the two countries should play a greater role in global governance to ensure sustainable and secure development.