ANKARA, Jan 7 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrived in Turkiye last night for a three-day official visit to strengthen long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, is visiting the country until tomorrow at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The special aircraft carrying Anwar, who is accompanied by his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and a delegation, landed at the Esenboga International Airport at 7.13pm local time last night (12.13am today Malaysian time).
He is accompanied by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
He was greeted upon arrival by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Malaysian Ambassador to Turkiye Sazali Mustafa Kamal, and Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler, who is also minister-in-attendance.
Anwar then attended a Sentuhan Kasih Madani ceremony with the Malaysian diaspora at a hotel here.
Today, the prime minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with Erdogan and co-chair the Malaysia-Turkiye High-Level Strategic Council (HLSC) meeting.
Anwar will also deliver a public lecture in Ankara and visit Istanbul, focusing on strengthening economic cooperation via a roundtable session with Turkish companies, as well as a media engagement session to outline the direction of Malaysia-Turkiye relations.
According to Wisma Putra, Malaysia’s total trade with Turkiye from January to November 2025 amounted to RM21.2 billion, with the republic continuing to be an important economic partner for Malaysia.
“In 2024, Turkiye was Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner, largest export destination and fourth-largest source of imports among West Asian countries, with total trade valued at RM24.15 billion,” Wisma Putra said in a statement.
