Jakarta: Indonesia and Turkiye continue to take bilateral cooperation in the defense sector to the next level as marked by Deputy Defence Minister Muhammad Herindra’s visit to Turkiye last week.
As his main agenda, on Thursday (July 4) Herindra met with the Turkish Defense Vice Minister, Bilal Durdali, and CEOs of several Turkish defense companies, according to the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara.
Herindra regarded Turkiye as an “important friend that has for a long time maintained defense cooperation with Indonesia”, the Indonesian Embassy disclosed in a press statement published on Saturday.
He said that the two countries have opportunities to expand their defense cooperation, especially in building mutual trust, increasing military capacity, and developing the defense manufacturing sector in the future.
His visit became part of Indonesia’s endeavors to strengthen its strategic partnership with Turkiye in defense and its industrial cooperation, Herindra added.
At their meeting, the embassy revealed, Herindra and Durlali confirmed the Indonesian and Turkish defense ministers’ commitment to continuing the two countries’ solid cooperation in building a strategic partnership and contributing to world peace and stability.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Turkiye Achmad Rizal Purnama, who accompanied Herindra during the visit, said Turkiye is the right partner for Indonesia in developing defense industry.
Turkiye is recorded as one of the few countries that is willing to partner with Indonesia in developing the defense industrial sector by implementing the transfer of technology mechanism, he added.
At multilateral fora and for addressing current crucial issues, Turkiye is also Indonesia’s most trusted partner, he said, adding that Indonesia’s defense cooperation with Turkiye aims to meet long-term needs.
Therefore, Ambassador Purnama opined that the defense cooperation between Indonesia and Turkiye could be stated in a strategic document of a long-term strategic partnership on defense industries grand design.
By doing so, the document would function as “deliverables” at Indonesian and Turkish leaders’ meeting in the future, he said.
During his visit to Turkiye, Herindra also met the representatives of FNSS, Turkish armed combat vehicle manufacturer, and Turkish Aerospace (TUSAS).
FNSS, as revealed on its official website, “specializes in designing and producing wheeled and tracked armored combat vehicles as well as combat engineering vehicles, turrets, and sustainability solutions”.
FNSS has cooperated with Indonesia’s state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad in producing the medium tank, “Harimau”.
TUSAS, which claims to be one of the global players in the aviation and space industry, has six strategic business centers, including national combat aircraft (NCA) group, aircraft group, and helicopter group.
