Turkey's Parliament speaker, Mustafa Şentop, met with envoys from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the country's capital Ankara on Monday.

Speaking at the meeting with the ASEAN Ankara Committee (AAC), Şentop stressed the importance of international solidarity, cooperation and acting together amid the coronavirus pandemic.

His remarks came a day ahead of the rotation of the AAC presidency from Indonesia's Ambassador to Turkey Lalu Muhammad Iqbal to the ambassador of the Philippines.

"The coronavirus pandemic showed us that an understanding of caring for the world and its people should come to the fore," Şentop said.

Turkey has successfully fought the pandemic, he said.

"By acting in solidarity with many countries, it has made efforts to fight COVID-19 worldwide as much as it can," he added.

Among the attendees of the meeting were Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam Mohammad Shafiee bin Haji Kassim, Ambassador of the Philippines Raul S. Hernandez, Singapore's Ambassador Jonathan Tow Shen Han, Thai Ambassador Phantipha Lamsudha Ekarohit, Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Quang Tuyen, Malaysian Embassies' Charge d'Affaires Arhan Shah Anuar and Cambodia's Charge d'Affaires Sophea Heng.

Seven ASEAN member states have embassies in Turkey, which form the AAC. Turkey is a sectoral dialogue partner for ASEAN.