REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The governments of Indonesia and Turkiye met on Thursday (October 24) to explore collaborative opportunities in holding Islamic activities, including exchange programs for Quran reciters (qari).

During the meeting at the Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry in Jakarta, the ministry's Director of Islamic Information, Ahmad Zayadi, and Turkish Religious Affairs Attaché Abdulhamid Esmeli also discussed potential areas for cooperation that encompassed conducting mosque imam exchanges and holding Ramadan festivals and international conferences.

"The holding of a calligraphy exhibition and Islamic culture preaching was discussed as well," Zayadi noted in the ministry's statement cited here on Friday. He expressed belief that collaboration between Indonesia and Turkiye on such activities would help to step up bilateral relations in religious affairs.

Zayadi then spoke of extending an invitation for Attaché Esmeli to visit a religious moderation village in Indonesia, noting that such a village is designated as a place that best showcases practical examples of interfaith tolerance and concord.

"We invited the Turkish religious affairs attaché to see firsthand a religious moderation village, where a harmonious religious life manifests in real life," he remarked.

Furthermore, the official expressed hope that the Indonesian government would soon join memorandum of understanding with the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkiye to facilitate future religious joint programs.

Turkish Attaché Esmeli responded positively to the potential cooperation projects while highlighting his country's Directorate of Religious Affairs' ongoing engagement with non-governmental organizations in Indonesia to distribute sacrificial animals to Indonesian underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost areas.

Turkiye also offers scholarships to Indonesian students keen to continue their studies in Turkey, he added. The official also invited the Religious Affairs Ministry's officials to visit the headquarters of the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs to further broaden bilateral cooperation in religious affairs.  

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