Recep Erdogan says Pakistan avoids KL Summit under economic pressure

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued economic pressure to Pakistan to withdrawing from a gathering of leaders from many Islamic nations in Malaysia.

The four-day conference, which opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday to address some of the Islamic world’s important issues, was avoided by a handful of countries including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

According to the details Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a statement on the absence of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in KL Summit 2019 which is being held in the capital of Malaysia.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who along with his Malaysian counterpart and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had been a prime mover behind the summit, made a last-minute decision to withdraw from the meeting.

“Now, there are promises that the country has given to Pakistan regarding the central bank. However, more than that, there are 4 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia. They would send back and re-employ Bangladeshi people instead,” said Erdogan.

We see Saudi Arabia issuing economic threats to Pakistan and threatening to replace the 4 million Pakistani workers with Bangladeshi worker. Unfortunately, this is not the first time they have done this – Erdogan on Saudi pressure on Pakistan

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) December 20, 2019

Saudi Arabia said its leaders were not attending the summit because it was being held outside the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation based in Jeddah.

“We see Saudi Arabia issuing economic threats to Pakistan and threatening to replace the 4 million Pakistani workers with Bangladeshi workers,” the Turkey-based TRT World news channel quoted Erdogan as saying.

Erdogan also spoke against US,

The US Senate's decision on sanctions for Turkey. This is a violation of our rights. We will have sanctions against them – Erdogan

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) December 20, 2019

The Turkish president added that the Saudi kingdom has used similar threatening tactics regarding State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), threatening that they would withdraw their money.

PM Imran will not participate in upcoming KL Summit in Malaysia

Earlier on Tuesday (Dec 17) Pakistan withdraws to attend Kuala Lumpur Islamic Conference in Malaysian capital because of Saudi pressure.

Dr Mahathir appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call to inform of his inability to attend the summit where the Pakistani leader was expected to speak and share his thoughts on the state of affairs of the Islamic world.