Erdogan claims Saudi Arabia ‘put pressure’ on Pakistan to withdraw from Malaysian summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said that Saudi Arabia allegedly threatened Pakistan of economic sanctions and stopped the country to attend recently concluded Kaula Lumpur summit, a Turkish newspaper reported.

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Saudi Arabia shunned the meeting and criticized it for undermining the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

SPA, the Saudi state news agency reported that Saudi King Salman, on a telephonic call with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad assured that such issues should be discussed through the OIC.

The Turkish newspaper reported that this isn’t the first time Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had put pressure on a country to do certain things or not.

Due to the economic difficulties, Pakistan had to comply with such Saudi wishes, Erdogan said.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday mounted a veiled attack on a Muslim summit in Malaysia shunned by Saudi Arabia, saying such gatherings would weaken Islam.

Leaders of Muslim countries, including Turkey and Qatar, attended the summit in Kuala Lumpur, which analysts say is aimed at rivaling the OIC, a 57-member pan-Islamic body headquartered in the Saudi city of Jeddah.