Hacettepe university, Private university in Ankara, Turkey

The summit, finalised by Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia in September in New York, had stirred a controversy since Saudi Arabia perceived it as a direct challenge to its leadership in the Islamic world.On Tuesday, soon after Imran Khan's cancellation, Malayasian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad clarified that the summit was not going to be a "platform to replace the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation"."The selection of the key nations for the summit is for the specific objectives, but the list is not exhaustive," Mahathir said in a statement.In an indirect apology to Saudi Arabia and other key Islamic states, Mahathir said, "For this summit only a few national leaders are asked to participate but Malaysia wishes to reiterate that all the 56 countries of the Islamic world were invited and all the 56 are represented at various levels."Top official sources told that Khan decided to call off his participation at the summit hosted by the Mahathir government, last minute on Tuesday.The summit was aimed at providing Prime Minister Khan a platform to censure India over Kashmir and Citizenship Amendment Act, sources told .Turkey and Malaysia have backed Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. But Khan was pressurised by the key Islamic countries after India reached out to Saudi Arabia and other allies in the Muslim world, sources said.However, Prime Minister Mahathir in his official clarification said that Khan had conveyed to him about changes in his plans yesterday. Khan was to speak on the "state of affairs of the Islamic world," the statement said."The KL Summit which is into its 5th edition is a non-governmental organization initiative, supported by the Malaysian government and is not intended to create a new bloc as alluded to by some of its critics. In addition, the summit is not a platform to discuss about religion or religious affairs but specifically to address the state of affairs of the Muslim Ummah," Mahathir said.Without mentioning any names, Mahathir, however, went on to criticize the non-Muslim nations for the persecution of Muslims. "The summit attempts to spark a new approach in Ummah collaboration," he said.( With inputs from IANS )

Hacettepe UniversityFOLLOW

Hacettepe university, Latest News

Turkey is pursuing a policy of political, cultural, social and economic genocide against the Kurds and preventing them from life, claims Ilham Ahmed, president of an executive committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDF), adding that such actions ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that Pakistan abstained from the Kuala Lumpur Islamic summit because the Saudi Arabia government threatened economic sanctions against it. ...

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a $738 billion defence bill which includes controversial provisions calling for sanctions against Russia and Turkey. ...

Describing the military offensive launched by Turkey as an attempt to divert public attention after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party suffered a setback in this year's municipal elections, M Behzad Fatmi, a Turkish political writer and co ...

Onion prices have fallen across the country after the staple's imports increased recently. However, the imported onions are not being liked by consumers as they believe the onions from foreign countries taste different from homegrown onions. ...

The UN Security Council has decided to postpone its vote to renew the authorization for cross-border aid delivery in Syria as its members attempted at the last minute to reach an agreement. ...

Calling Turkey a "top jailer" of journalists, Abdullah Bozkurt, an exiled Turkish journalist, has said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "orchestrated the seizure" of major media compes, adding that his regime shut down almost 200 media outlets ove ...

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled trip to Kaula Lumpur, Malayasia where he was to attend a summit of Muslim majority countries excluding Saudi Arabia and a few others. ...