Turkish foreign minister meets ASEAN envoys in Ankara

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in capital Ankara on Sunday ahead of a summit in Singapore.

On Sunday, Cavusoglu met Philippines Ambassador Maria Rowena Mendoza, Indonesian Ambassador Pak Wardana, Singaporean Ambassador A. Selverajah, Vietnamese Ambassador Tuan Pham Anh, Malaysian ambassador Abd Razak Bin Abdul Wahab, Brunei Darussalam’s ambassador Mohammad Shafi bin Haji Qasim and Thai Ambassador Phantipha Lamsudha Ekarohit.

In a Twitter post that came along with a photograph with the ambassadors, Cavusoglu said: “We exchanged views with Ambassadors of ASEAN countries in Ankara on continuously developing and diversifying cooperation between #Turkey & #ASEAN, prior to traveling to Singapore to attend the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.”

The ASEAN meeting will be held between Monday and Saturday.

Cavusoglu will visit Singapore for four days to take part in a series of events as part of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, according to an earlier statement by Turkish Foreign Ministry.

As part of the meeting, the first-ever ASEAN-Turkey Trilateral Ministerial Meeting will be held following last year’s establishment of a sectoral dialogue partnership between Turkey and the regional organization.

Turkish FM is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other participating countries, the statement added.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore are the founder countries of the ASEAN while Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are the other members.