Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet have pledged to strengthen bilateral ties, with a focus on trade, defence, energy, education and cultural cooperation.

Speaking at a joint news conference following talks in Istanbul on Friday, Erdoğan described Cambodia as an important partner in Southeast Asia and said the two countries were working to increase bilateral trade to $1 billion.

“ We continue to endeavour to achieve this goal,” Erdoğan said, recalling a 2018 agreement with then-Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to raise trade between the two countries to that level.

Erdoğan also expressed hope that a Türkiye-Cambodia Business Forum held earlier on Friday would help strengthen ties between the two countries’ business communities.

Defence, education and cultural ties

Erdoğan said the leaders had discussed cooperation in defence industry, energy, education and culture, adding that Türkiye was ready to expand collaboration in areas where both countries had significant potential.

He welcomed Cambodia’s interest in Turkish defence products and highlighted the work of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Yunus Emre Institute in strengthening social and cultural relations.

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

Erdoğan welcomes Cambodia’s role on Palestine                  

Erdoğan said bilateral cooperation could contribute to global peace, stability and prosperity, welcoming Cambodia’s participation as a founding member of the Gaza Board of Peace.

He expressed hope that Cambodia would continue contributing to efforts based on a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue.

The Turkish president also called for the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand to be resolved through dialogue, peaceful means and international law.

He said Türkiye had provided humanitarian assistance to more than 3,000 people affected by conflicts in coordination with Cambodian officials and would continue its relief efforts.

The talks were followed by the signing of agreements between the two countries, although further details of the agreements were not provided in the statement. (ILKHA)