Jakarta -A video showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allegedly walking out (WO) or leaving while President Prabowo Subianto was giving a speech at the 11th Developing Eight (D-8) Summit in Egypt has gone viral. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) spoke out regarding the matter of the news.
In the viral video on social media, Prabowo is initially seen expressing his views at the D-8 Summit. Not long after, several delegates were seen walking out of the room. One of the figures captured by the camera leaving the room was Erdogan.
The Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Roy Soemirat, explained that in an international forum, each delegation has the right to determine when its head will sit in the delegation’s seat or leave the room. Roy said it is common for a delegation to hold many meetings at an international forum, even if they have to leave the meeting room.
“It is common for the heads of delegations to hold many parallel meetings during international meetings, including holding bilateral meetings with other heads of delegations in different rooms,” said Roy in a statement to reporters on Sunday (22/12/2024).
“So the nature of entering and exiting the meeting room is a common occurrence for international meetings (including in the UN forum),” he continued.
According to Roy, the Indonesian delegation could not provide further comments regarding several delegations that could not attend the forum until it was finished while Prabowo was giving his speech. However, he assured that the Indonesian delegation had held a meeting with the Turkish delegation during the D-8 summit forum.
“What we can confirm is that the President of the Republic of Indonesia had the opportunity to hold brief meetings with all the other heads of delegations before and after the summit, including with the President of Turkey,” explained Roy.
He said that the meeting between the Indonesian delegation and the Turkish delegation led by Erdogan in the D-8 summit forum took place in an atmosphere of close friendship between the two countries.
“Specifically with the President of Turkey, it can be conveyed that the two leaders met in a friendly atmosphere, including when they sat close to each other at the luncheon held after the summit ended,” said Roy.
