Speaking Out

Ambassador Amin Rianom: Indonesia at 60

Indonesia celebrated the 60^th anniversary of its independence on August 17. The celebrations – which continue with a reception in Ankara this month – come at a time when the country appears to be bidding farewell to an era of economic and political crisis, conflict and disaster. In tsunami-hit regions, the rebuilding process is under way. A peace treaty has been signed with the Free Aceh Movement. And after the constant changes of head of state ushered in by the “Asian” financial crisis of 1997, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the country’s first directly-elected president, enjoys a strong mandate. Indonesia was still in its twenties when its current ambassador to Ankara, Amin Rianom, took up his first overseas posting in Bombay. More recently he has served in Caracas as Ambassador (1995-1998), in Vienna as Deputy Chief of Mission (1993-1995) and twice in New York, where he was Minister-Counsellor for political affairs between 1986 and 1990. The Ambassador has also worked as Deputy Coordinating Minister for Political and Social Affairs (1998-2003) and as Indonesian Foreign Ministry Director for Africa and the Middle East. (1990-1993). As the envoy of one of the World’s largest countries, with a population of almost a quarter of a million spread over 17,508 islands, some of them thousands of kilometres apart, Ambassador Rianom has plenty to talk about. We asked him to focus on a handful of topics, beginning with the meaning of Independence Day.

1.  The spirit of independence

The Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed by Ir. Soekarno and Dr. Mohammad Hatta on August 17, 1945, as the war in Asia drew to a close. It was based on the five principles of Pancasila, with a constitution featuring strong presidential powers, a Parliament, a Supreme Advisory Council, a State Audit Board and a People’s Consultative Assembly as the embodiment of the sovereignty of the people in free Indonesia. All these were adopted on August 18. This constitution is still in force.

Today, the spirit of Independence Day is to make Indonesia more secure and peaceful, just and democratic, and to improve the welfare of the people. The theme of the commemoration this year is: “With the spirit of Proclamation 1945, we strengthen our unity and togetherness to reach a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Indonesia.” Our historical task of realising our independence continues. We will use and manage all available sources and capability in order to ensure that national development is truly felt by all people.

2.  Indonesia-Turkey relations

Relations between Turkey and Indonesia started in the 16^th century with the first arrival of Turkish ships. President Suharto visited Turkey in 1985 and President Demirel visited Indonesia in 1995. The great attention and assistance paid by the Government of Turkey to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and North Sumatra in 2004 constitutes another milestone in our relations.

Politically, we have excellent relations. We have no problems whatsoever and we always support one another in multilateral fora. Our problem is that despite various agreements we have not explored or exploited the economic potential to the optimal extent. At the fifth session of the Joint Economic Commission between Indonesia and Turkey in June of this year, a memorandum of understanding was signed on a range of issues. Most importantly, we have resolved to increase the volume of our annual bilateral trade from US$750m to US$2bn. In parallel with this, we are also working to initiate direct shipping, to eliminate the need to route goods via Singapore or Colombo.

Cultural relations between Turkey and Indonesia include student exchanges every year. In fct, two Turkish students are just about to set off for Indonesia where they will be studying the Indonesian language and culture. We hope that our bilateral relationship will grow and improve even more.

3.  International organisations: OIC and D-8

Turkey and Indonesia are also both members of the D-8 group of developing countries and of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The D-8, which brings together Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, was a Turkish idea: it was founded in 1997 on the initiative of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. In March 2006, Indonesia will be hosting the D-8 summit, possibly in Bali. We are hoping to bring together all the heads of state of the member countries together with the business communities to see how we can increase cooperation.

Indonesia believes that the OIC can safeguard the interests and ensure the progress and well-being of the peoples of the Islamic countries and the Ummah in the world. Indonesia consistently endorses efforts to strengthen the role of the organisation and to reform and restructure it. The Organisation can be a bridge between the Islamic World and the West, where there is a lot of misunderstanding. Turkey and the Turkish OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin İhsanoglu have a major role to play in this context.

Through the OIC we can help one another to overcome our very unequal levels of development. The Islamic Development Bank can provide development assistance as well as trade financing. There is a Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC), which has its headquarters here in Turkey. It would be nice to see the rich members finding ways of investing more in the other OIC countries rather than in the West. Finally, if all the 56 member countries are united, then we could also have an important influence on the UN General Assembly.

4.  Recovery from disasters

The response of the international community to the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh and North Sumatra was very good, and the amount of money and humanitarian aid sent was very satisfying. We are very grateful for the spontaneous aid provided. The process of emergency relief finished in April 2005 and the Government is now embarking on rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias (where there was another earthquake disaster in March). Public services will be improved and new houses will be built to replace temporary shelter. With the help of reconstruction activity and aid from all over the world and, the economy of the region is recovering. People are starting to cultivate the land – especially after the peace accord (See below).  The tourism industry in Indonesia is now back to normal.

The Government and people of Indonesia are very grateful to the people of Turkey. During the crisis they sent not only money but also doctors, nurses and volunteers to find corpses and bury them. This is a sign of our special relations. I accompanied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he visited the region. We had water purification equipment on the plane with the delegation. The Turks keep quiet but they do something. Istanbul Mun icipality, Konya Municipality and the Turkish Red Crescent all have projects in the disaster region.

5.  Peace in Aceh

The peace treaty signed by the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement in August is good news. The Government of Indonesia is freeing all the political prisoners – about 1,400 of them - and issuing an amnesty for those who fought in the mountains. They are to surrender their weapons to the Aceh Monitoring Mission, and at the same time the military will withdraw. In a few months, Aceh will become a special autonomous region with its own government, parliament and local political parties. They will look after their own affairs with the exception of foreign policy, defence, national security, monetary and fiscal matters, justice and freedom of religion.

Hopefully we will also reach a settlement in Papua. This is our own domestic issue. The history of Papua as an integral part of the territory of our state is clear. There is no reason to doubt the legitimacy of Papua as an integral party of the territorial sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

6.  Terrorism and Iraq

Indonesia strongly condemns all acts of terrorism. We have been in the forefront of the fight against terrorism. We have already brought to court and sentenced the perpetrators of the Bali and Jakarta Marriott Hotel bombings. We emphasise the importance of avoiding the identification of terrorism with any particular religion or ethnic group, and of abiding by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international human rights covenants. The most important task in dealing with terrorism, nationally and internationally, is to construct a legal foundation that protects the interest of the public as well as human rights as the basis for law enforcement. Indonesia has enacted a number of laws and regulations and has become party to various relevant international legal instruments against terrorism.

On Iraq, we have to look forward now. We hope that Iraq will succeed in formulating a constitution in accordance with the wishes of all the people of Iraq, and that a broad-based government can be established through a general election with the support of a majority of the people of Iraq

7.  Reform of the UN

The membership of the UN Security Council needs to be expanded to reflect the world order and represent the interests of the developing countries better. This in turn will strengthen the legitimacy of the Council. Indonesia also believes in the need for an improvement in working methods, including a review of the practice of the veto right, which has been used by the permanent members to hamper the aspirations of the international community regarding important matters, including the question of Palestine.

(DIPLOMAT  -  September 2005  -  Ankara)