Türkiye's Erdogan congratulates new Malaysian PM Ibrahim

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has congratulated Anwar Ibrahim on becoming Malaysia's new prime minister in a phone call, with Ibrahim telling Erdogan that Türkiye "stood by us as a good brother in difficult times."

In Thursday's phone call, Erdogan said he is hopeful that the close cooperation between Türkiye and Malaysia will grow stronger based on mutual trust, according to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

"I wholeheartedly congratulate you for the victorious November 19 elections, your leadership of the coalition and for being appointed prime minister," Erdogan said.

Anwar, 75, was sworn in as Malaysia's 10th prime minister earlier in the day, ending days of political deadlock after a tightly contested general election led to a hung parliament.

He received a phone call from the Turkish president just as he was about to begin his first press conference as Malaysia's premier.

Ibrahim placed the call on speaker for everyone to hear and thanked Erdogan.

"You are inspiring and you have stood by us as a good brother in difficult times. I look forward to improving our bilateral economic, commercial, and cultural relations between Malaysia and Türkiye," Ibrahim told Erdogan.

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