When The Name Of Ataturk Street Was Still A Polemic, President Erdogan Was Willing To Come To Indonesia

JAKARTA - The plan to name a street in Jakarta using the name of Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is still controversial.

Then it turns out that, in the near future, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Indonesia. This was revealed by President Joko Widodo through his Instagram account today.

"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Indonesia next year," said Jokowi, quoted from the @jokowi account, Sunday, October 31.

Jokowi said that they discussed the plan in a bilateral meeting with President Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in La Nuvola, Rome, yesterday.

"The visit of His Excellency President Erdogan will certainly strengthen Indonesia-Turkey relations. We are waiting," said Jokowi.

For information, the plan to rename a street in one of the streets of the Menteng area, Central Jakarta, with the name of Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, has sparked protests.

Protests against the plan to name Ataturk Street were expressed by Deputy General Chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Anwar Abbas, Chairman of the DKI Jakarta PKS Regional Leadership Council Khoirudin, and Gerindra politician Fadli Zon.

Then, the chairman of the DKI DPRD, Prasetyo Edi Marsudi, expressed his objections to the Secretary-General of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU Secretary-General) Ahmad Helmy Faishal Zaini.

As a follow-up to this polemic, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria admitted that the provincial government had written to the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara (Turkey) regarding the plan to name one of the roads in Jakarta with the name Ataturk Street.

"DKI has submitted a letter to the Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey saying that we certainly appreciate and respect the name proposal submitted by the Turkish government," said Riza.

DKI admits that there is a polemic in this plan. Thus, DKI offers a process of public hearing in case of controversy.

Then, Riza also proposed another alternative. He proposed changing the naming of streets in Jakarta from the plan to use the names of figures to the names of cities in Turkey.

"We will propose several names, and hopefully later the Turkish government will present alternative options. Of course, our hope is not the names of people, but the names of cities, whether Istanbul, Ankara, and others," he said.