Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s absence at a dinner organised by Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the eve of the official launch of the KL Summit did not go unnoticed.
His absence was seen as a snub to PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s official dinner in Kuala Lumpur for the Muslim head of states at the KL Summit in Malaysia.
Instead, Mr Erdogan hosted a dinner in which PM-to-be Anwar Ibrahim was the official invited guest along with his wife Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Anwar uploaded a picture showing himself, his wife, Erdogan and the Turkish leader’s wife Ermine Erdogan together at the dinner which was hosted at the Turkish Embassy residence in Kuala Lumpur.
In the text accompanying the picture, Anwar said that he prays that the excellent relationship between the two families will continue to be stronger. He also prays that the two families continue to pay attention to the problems affecting the poor in their nations.
Anwar and Erdogan have a long relationship that goes far back in the political history of both leaders.
In the blog post, Syed Out the Box writes that Erdogan’s dinner with Anwar was a slap for Dr Mahathir.
“This is a major slap in the face for Dr Mahathir,” he writes.
Not mincing his words, he further lambasted Dr Mahathir, writing, “Say what you want, but it is Erdogan who has gone out of his way to thumb his nose at you (Mahathir).
“Erdogan came all the way out here, skipped dinner with you on opening night of the KL Summit and instead hosted dinner for Anwar Ibrahim at the Turkish Embassy.”
His blog post headline says it all: “Dr Mahathir Gets ‘Buggered’ : Erdogan Skips Opening Dinner of KL Summit and Instead Hosts Dinner for . . . .”
“What a slap in the face. Both Imran Khan and Erdogan have left you standing – on opening night of your KL Summit,” he said.
Pakistani leader Khan decided not to attend the summit, and this got Pakistani portals to speculate on the reason for his absence.
GeoTv says it has exclusive information that Mr Khan decided to snub the event because of immense pressure from Saudi Arabia.
Dr Mahathir last night confirmed that Khan will be absent, saying it is a choice that the Pakistani leader made.
When pressed by the media, he conceded that Khan faced pressure and that was the reason why the latter said he did not want complications by attending the event. /TISG