The ties between Turkey and Malaysia have been raised to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday.

Speaking during a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur, Çavuşoğlu said agreements were signed between each government, company and university.

"And I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malaysia for the continued support in enhancing our institutional relations with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Malaysia is a key actor in its region and in the Muslim world," Çavuşoğlu said.

Noting that Turkey looks forward to the visit of Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah, the top Turkish diplomat vowed to intensify parliamentary cooperation and looked "forward to the establishment of the parliamentary friendship group by the Malaysian side."

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Malaysia were established in 1964. Both countries enjoy a broad-based and close partnership. On Jan. 10, 2014, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak declared the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic partnership, which is the result of the progress achieved since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, as well as the depth of political, economic and cultural ties.

As members of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the D-8, Turkey and Malaysia share a common perspective on a broad range of regional and global issues.

Malaysia also constitutes a significant country for Turkey's regional initiative.

Announced by Çavuşoğlu at the 11th Ambassadors Conference in August 2019, the Asia Anew Initiative indicated that Turkey was determined to more effectively utilize the potential of cooperation in Asia, considered the fastest growing economic region and the continent with the largest economy in terms of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Regarding trade volume between Turkey and Malaysia, Çavuşoğlu said it grew by 60% and reached $2.42 billion (TL 43.48 billion) in the first half of this year.

"We have a trade volume target of $5 billion, it appears that this target is achievable this year. Obviously, we need to work for more balanced trade," he added.

Announcing the completion of negotiations to expand the existing free trade agreement (FTA) between Turkey and Malaysia, Çavuşoğlu said the deal is to be ratified soon.

The FTA between Turkey and Malaysia, which was signed during then-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to Turkey in April 2014, came into force on Aug. 1, 2015, and constitutes the first ever FTA that Turkey concluded with an ASEAN member.

The Turkish foreign minister further said the two countries will continue cooperation on mutual concerns such as the Rohingya people, the situations in Afghanistan a Palestine, regional issues, and the fight against Islamophobia.

"We agreed to increase our humanitarian and assistance to people in Afghanistan," Çavuşoğlu said while voicing hopes to expand and deepen Turkey’s cooperation with Malaysia in the future.

For his part, Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah said his country looks forward to "working much closer" so "the relations between the two brotherly countries can be enhanced."

Malaysian and Turkish officials also agreed on exploring "new potential areas of investment, particularly in the area of digital economy, the military, and defense industry."

"We also discussed issues on food security, especially in the current situation as an effect of what is happening because of the Ukraine conflict," he added.

Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month, with casualties piling up on both sides. Turkey also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya in March and hosted four-way meetings recently in Istanbul between Moscow, Ankara, Kyiv and the United Nations with the aim of solving the grain crisis.