Erdogan prevented from meeting Mahathir, says MP

A Perikatan Nasional leader has made the startling revelation that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was recently prevented from meeting Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the latter's recent official visit to Malaysia.

Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal named Erdogan as one of the heads of state who were denied a meeting with Mahathir, days after the 99-year-old leader accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of preventing foreign leaders from visiting him.

Wan Fayhsal was responding to Anwar's political secretary Kamal Munim, who asked Mahathir to name the leaders who were prevented from meeting him.

"Let me name the leader on behalf of Tun M: Erdogan was prevented from meeting Tun M," he posted on X.

He said Erdogan's wife Emine, however, had met with Mahathir's wife Hasmah Ali.

"Tun M is not a habitual liar like your boss," Wan Fayhsal told Kamal.

MalaysiaNow is trying to get a response from the Prime Minister's Office as well as the Turkish embassy.

In a recent podcast interview, Mahathir claimed that many foreign dignitaries who wanted to meet him were prevented from doing so by Anwar.

"There were foreign leaders who asked to meet me. Oh (Anwar said) cannot, cannot meet. (The leaders were) from two or three countries.

"These leaders are my friends, they know me and they came to Malaysia to meet with me but could not," he told the podcast "Apa Cerita".

Anwar is a staunch admirer of Erdogan and had even claimed that the president had given him moral support when he was facing a second sodomy charge in 2008. The claim has yet to be verified by the Turkish government.

Erdogan last visited Malaysia during Mahathir's short second term in 2019, where he attended the Kuala Lumpur Summit alongside the leaders of Qatar and Iran. The summit was the brainchild of Mahathir to bring together key Muslim countries and was seen by many as a prelude to a stronger alternative Islamic bloc to the heavily crticised Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

In June 2023, some seven months after Anwar took office,Erdogan warmly welcomed Mahathir and Hasmahto the presidential palace in Ankara during the couple's brief stopover in Turkiye.

The Turkish strongman had then extended an invitation to Mahathir to attend a follow-up event to the Kuala Lumpur Summit.