DILI, 15 october 2022 (TATOLI) – The ties between Timor-Leste and Indonesia go beyond diplomatic relations, said President Horta in his speech at the ceremony of the Indonesian Cultural Show, Education, Fair, and Night Market at Timor Plaza, in Dili.
Horta said that the relationship between the two countries goes deeper: “It is a relationship of fraternity and solidarity, rooted in centuries of living together in the same archipelago.
“It symbolizes our strong relations. Because some countries don’t have diplomatic relations and yet they may be at war and they may have tensions and all kinds of problems,” Horta said at the ceremony of the Indonesian Cultural Show, Education, Fair and Night Marking at Timor Plaza, in Dili, on Friday evening.
President Horta thanked the Indonesian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Okto Dorinus Manik, for bringing many Indonesians from Atambua and Nusa Tenggara Timur (Kupang) to visit the country.
Horta said that both Timor-Leste and NTT share many similarities, saying that some of the traditional dances of the NNT seem similar to some dances of the Maliana municipality.
The Head of State thanked all the Atambua and NTT people for visiting Timor-Leste.
“I would like to say to our guests from Indonesia and also from NTT and elsewhere, Welcome to Timor-Leste,” Horta said.
Both the Timorese and West Timor people have lived on the island of Timor for centuries.
The Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part.
The Indonesian part, also known as West Timor, constitutes part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara.
Within West Timor lies an exclave of East Timor called Oecusse District. The island covers an area of 30,777 square kilometers (11,883 square miles). The name is a variant of Timur, Malay for “east”; it is so called because it lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges