Hawzah News Agency - Turkey and Indonesia are two important democracies in the Muslim world, Turkey's parliament speaker said Friday. 

Speaking at reception of the 74th independence of Indonesia in Ankara, Mustafa Sentop said the two countries needed to strengthen their strategic partnership.   

Turkish Parliament Speaker, Mustafa Sentop

"Turkey and Indonesia need to increase the frequency of bilateral visits," Sentop said in his speech during the celebrations themed, "Advance human resource, advance Indonesia".

"Indonesia can contribute greatly to the regional and global peace," he added.

Sentop underlined that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's upcoming visit to Indonesia in first few months of next year would further accelerate bilateral relations.

For his part, Indonesian ambassador Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said Turkey and his country had "millions of reasons to be close".

"Indonesia and Turkey are bound by destiny… We can easily find chemistry in our relations," he told the listeners including diplomats from various countries.

Iqbal identified education, tourism, industry, science, culture, defense as areas in which the two countries "cooperate closely" in bilateral and multi-lateral forums.

Noting that current bilateral trade volume stood at $1.6 billion as of 2018, he said: "It is far below our potentials…Together, we will be able to meet the target set out by our two leaders to reach $10 billion in the coming years."