Thank you!
Honorable President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the Press!
At the outset, I wish to thank President Erdoğan for his invitation for me and my delegation to visit this beautiful city of Istanbul, and for the opportunity to engage in meaningful and fruitful discussions. I also deeply appreciate the warm welcome and gracious hospitality extended to my delegations.
I commend Türkiye for its impressive development in strengthening national identity and strategic autonomy, and its increasingly crucial role in regional and global affairs. Türkiye’s proactive and constructive engagement in international efforts to advance peace and stability, including in the Middle East, is commendable.
Eight years ago, in 2018, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, then Prime Minister of Cambodia, paid a historic visit to Türkiye, laying an important foundation for advancing our relations and deepening bonds of friendship between our two countries. My visit today builds on that foundation and marks a new chapter in our long-standing and steadily expanding relationship.
Cambodia and Türkiye have enjoyed more than six decades of friendly relations and fruitful cooperation, founded on mutual respect, understanding, and interest. Like President Erdoğan has mentioned earlier today, we had comprehensive discussions on the current state of our relations and shared key priorities for future direction and cooperation. We discussed practical steps to strengthen our political, defense, and security cooperation.
The signing of the military framework agreement today will provide an important foundation for further fostering practical engagement between our armed forces. We also recognize the considerable potential to expand bilateral trade, facilitate investment, and strengthen private sector partnerships. Cambodia stands ready to work with Turkish businesses as a competitive production base and a strategic gateway to ASEAN, RCEP, and wider Asian markets.
On development cooperation, I highly appreciate the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) for valuable contributions to Cambodia’s socio-economic progress. We look forward to TIKA’s continued support for our human resources and skills development.
On people-to-people connectivity, we agreed that stronger ties between our peoples are essential to a lasting and meaningful friendship. I welcome Turkish friends to discover Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage, vibrant investment opportunities, and charming hospitality, especially now that we have established direct air connectivity between Istanbul and Phnom Penh.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen!
On the international arena, we underscored the importance of multilateralism and the need to work together through the United Nations, ASEAN, and other regional and international platforms to promote peace and stability, sustainable development, and respect for international law and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
I congratulate Türkiye on becoming an ASEAN Dialogue Partner. Cambodia looks forward to further strengthening practical cooperation between ASEAN and Türkiye, contributing to regional integration, connectivity, and shared prosperity.
Honorable President Erdoğan!
I firmly believe that this visit, together with our productive discussions today, will inject fresh momentum into our long-standing friendship and elevate our cooperation to a more substantive, diversified level.
In the spirit of friendship and our shared commitment to elevating our partnership to new heights, I convey a royal invitation of His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia to President Erdoğan to pay a state visit to Cambodia at a mutually convenient time in the near future.
So, thank you once again!
