Muslim disunity? What Erdogan’s summit walkout could mean for Prabowo, Indonesia-Turkey ties
Officials deny speculation of a rift even as analysts note Prabowo’s ‘diplomatic gaffe’ could indicate possible missteps in foreign policy
Questions about the state of the Indonesia-Turkey relationship also swirled in Jakarta as the video shows Erdogan, either deliberately or accidentally, bumping into Prabowo’s seat when he walked out.
Prabowo was on a three-day visit to Egypt last week to attend the summit of the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8), an economic bloc consisting of eight Muslim-majority countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
In his remarks on December 19, Prabowo criticised the “weak” solidarity among Muslim countries, as well as internal conflicts in countries such as Sudan, Libya, and Yemen, that had hindered support for Palestine.
“The Muslim population of the world is two billion people … we have vast resources, but we cannot unite. We quarrel among ourselves. When our brothers [in Palestine] are being destroyed, we declare support and humanitarian aid,” Prabowo said.
“Let us be honest. I attend so many of the summits and all we do is give declarations of support. Indonesia will try to do its best in whatever we can do. But I call for unity, I call for cooperation. I call for us, the Muslim countries, to realise what is happening. We are not being respected, they do not care about our voice.”
