Turkish president hails Cambodia as ‘important partner’ in Southeast Asia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday described Cambodia as an “important partner” in Southeast Asia, highlighting the rapid growth of bilateral relations in recent years.

“I view Cambodia, with which we have developed rapidly growing relations in recent years, as an important partner in Southeast Asia,” Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The two leaders held the news conference following bilateral and delegation-level talks at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Office in Istanbul.

“In 2018, we decided to increase our bilateral trade to $1 billion during a visit to Türkiye by Hun Sen, who was the prime minister at the time,” Erdoğan said.

“Our efforts to achieve this target are still ongoing,” he said, adding that they had comprehensively reviewed bilateral relations during their talks.

Erdoğan expressed hope that the Türkiye-Cambodia Business Forum, held earlier in the day, would help strengthen business ties between the two countries.

He welcomed Cambodia’s interest in Türkiye’s defense industry products, saying they also discussed cooperation in trade, investment, energy, culture and education.

Highlighting the significant potential for cooperation in these areas, Erdoğan said: “We will hopefully further improve our cooperation.”

He also emphasized the contributions of projects carried out by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Yunus Emre Institute in Cambodia to strengthen people-to-people ties.

Türkiye also supports Cambodian students through its Türkiye Scholarships program, he said.

Turning to Palestine, Erdoğan welcomed Cambodia’s involvement in efforts to achieve peace in Gaza.

“Cambodia’s participation as a founding member of the Board of Peace for Gaza is highly welcome. I believe they will continue to contribute to efforts in Palestine based on a two-state solution,” he said.

Erdoğan expressed hope that Cambodia’s border dispute with Thailand would be resolved through “dialogue and peaceful means in accordance with international law.”

He said Türkiye continues to support civilians affected by the clashes, adding that Turkish authorities had assisted more than 3,000 people in cooperation with their Cambodian counterparts.

“We will continue our humanitarian assistance,” he added.