Indonesia-Turkey Sign Security Cooperation Including TIP And TPPU

JAKARTA - The governments of Indonesia and Turkey have signed a cooperation agreement in the security sector (SCA), including countering and preventing terrorism, money laundering (TPPU), and criminal acts of trafficking in persons (TPPO).

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD and Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya signed the agreement in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, August 23.

"This cooperation is an important part in supporting the improvement of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Turkey, especially in the fields of politics, law and security," said Mahfud MD as quoted by ANTARA.

The cooperation agreement also agreed on a security dialogue meeting as a mechanism for bilateral dialogue in the security sector of Indonesia and Turkey.

This meeting is a means of reviewing the development of security cooperation, especially in the field of cross-border crime (transnational crime), terrorism, TIP, money laundering (money launching), and financing of terrorism activities.

The dialogue also accommodates cooperation between the two countries' police, capacity building of security sector resources, and law enforcement.

Mahfud explained that the security cooperation agreement between Indonesia and Turkey could accelerate the finalization of negotiations on several other security cooperation agreements that have been explored by two countries. This is because the security cooperation agreement signed by Indonesia and Turkey will oversee the cooperation in other security sectors made by ministries/agencies from two countries.

Several agreements await the finalization of the script. Among them are cooperation in countering terrorism which has been explored by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) since 2021.

BNPT has submitted proposals for the MoU manuscript which includes exchanging information related to legal rules, national policies and strategies, exchanging views and experiences, and exchanging intelligence information, particularly related to terrorist data (FTF).

Not only BNPT, the National Police and the Turkish police have also signed a memorandum of intent (MoI) as a form of partnering commitment in 2017. The follow-up to the MoI, the Police and the Turkish police held a virtual joint working group on February 23, 2021.

"By signing the SCA script by the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and the Turkish Minister of Home Affairs, the two countries can immediately proceed and finalize negotiations on the second MoU script for the cooperation," said Mahfud MD.

The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs took advantage of his visit to directly invite the Turkish Minister of Home Affairs to visit Indonesia to attend the first dialogue security scheduled to take place in 2024.

Ali Yerlikaya, Turkish Interior Minister who is also the former Governor of Istanbul, answered the invitation and said he would attend the event.

Mahfud began his visit to a number of countries since Tuesday (22/8) afternoon. Turkey became Mahfud's first destination, then scheduled to visit several countries in Europe, including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.