Turkey strongly supports ASEAN's vision: Brunei

By Ahmet Furkan Mercan

ANKARA (AA) - Brunei Darussalam celebrated the flag day of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at its embassy in Ankara on Thursday.

The ASEAN chairmanship, which rotates every 6 months among the member states, moved from Vietnam to Brunei until the end of 2019.

"Turkey gave strong support to ASEAN's vision for its regional peace and stability," said Mohammad Shafiee bin Haji Kassim, Brunei Darussalam's Ambassador to Turkey.

The event was attended by the ambassadors of ASEAN countries in Ankara, and the ASEAN flag was raised next to the Brunei flag at the embassy entrance.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kassim celebrated the 52nd anniversary of ASEAN's foundation and reminded that his country had joined the union in 1984.

Kassim also stressed the ASEAN principles of "territorial integrity, equality, national identity, non-involvement in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of conflicts and effective cooperation".

Referring to the ASEAN-Turkey cooperation, he said although there was a fall in bilateral trade volume, tourism partnership was in a growing trend.

ASEAN -- a regional bloc of 10 countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- was founded on Aug. 8, 1967 in Bangkok.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit