President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday stated that the leaders of Turkey and Mongolia have expressed a wish to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and he intends to support this imitative, RIA Novosti reports, citing France Press.

Duterte met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Mongolian premier Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat on the sidelines of the forum on international cooperation held in Beijing within the framework of the One Belt, One Road strategy.

In his words, during the meeting the leaders of the countries expressed their wish to join the organization.

“They want to join the ASEAN, and since I am the chairman now, that is the Philippines, they wanted me to support their accession and I said: “Yes, why not,” Duterte told journalists in the Philippines.

According to Duterte, state adviser and FM of Myanmar, Aung San Kyi, who he also met in China, pointed to him the geographical location of Turkey and Mongolia, but the Philippines President stated that they can join the region, whose countries are represented in the ASEAN.

In fact, Turkey and Mongolia never “submitted an application” to join the organization, the ASEAN Secretariat informed the agency.