Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Photo: Reuters
JAKARTA (SCMP): A viral video showing delegates, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, supposedly walking out during a speech by his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto at a summit in Cairo has sparked heated speculation, with observers questioning whether his remarks on Muslim disunity struck a nerve.
Questions about the state of the Indonesia-Turkey relationship also swirled in Jakarta as the video shows Erdogan, either deliberately or accidentally, bumping into Prabowo’s seat when he walked out.
Prabowo was on a three-day visit to Egypt last week to attend the summit of the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8), an economic bloc consisting of eight Muslim-majority countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
In his remarks on December 19, Prabowo criticised the “weak” solidarity among Muslim countries, as well as internal conflicts in countries such as Sudan, Libya, and Yemen, that had hindered support for Palestine.
“The Muslim population of the world is two billion people ... we have vast resources, but we cannot unite. We quarrel among ourselves. When our brothers [in Palestine] are being destroyed, we declare support and humanitarian aid,” Prabowo said.
“Let us be honest. I attend so many of the summits and all we do is give declarations of support. Indonesia will try to do its best in whatever we can do. But I call for unity, I call for cooperation. I call for us, the Muslim countries, to realise what is happening. We are not being respected, they do not care about our voice.”
The audience in Indonesia, however, fixated on several delegates walking out of the room during his speech, including Erdogan, who banged into Prabowo’s seat while doing so.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: AP
“It turns out that [Prabowo’s] issue of human rights violations still persists abroad. An Asian tiger becomes an Asian cat,” X user @Jumianto_RK said.
Another user @Bud_Cavalera argued that Prabowo’s speech was “too preachy”.
“The style of his speech in international forums should not be equated with the style of his speech during the presidential election campaign,” the user said.
Some users also alleged that Prabowo’s speech was overly critical of Western influence, potentially offending Erdogan, whose country maintains diplomatic ties with Israel.
A spokesman with Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Roy Sumirat, denied speculation of a rift, saying it was “common” for delegations to “go in and out of the room during international meetings”.
“What we can assure you is that the Indonesian president had the opportunity to hold brief meetings with all other heads of delegation before and after the summit, including with the Turkish president,” Roy said in a statement on Sunday.
“Specifically with the Turkish president ... the two leaders met in a very friendly situation, including when sitting close together at the luncheon held after the end of the summit.”
Turkish Ambassador to Indonesia Talip Küçükcan told reporters that Erdogan “had a bilateral meeting with a head of state at the same time” and that it was “a normal diplomatic practice”. He stopped short of mentioning the name of the leader that Erdogan met with during Prabowo’s remarks.
“Turkiye-Indonesia relations are getting stronger and our leaders are in constant communication on issues of common interest,” he said.
Defence deal gone bad?
Hadza Min Fadhli Robby, an international relations lecturer at the Islamic University of Indonesia in Yogyakarta who focuses on Turkish and Indian politics, suspected that the two leaders’ relationship had soured over a defence deal, an area in which both countries had seen increased cooperation in recent years.
In March, the Indonesian military received 10 Turkish-made tanks, which were jointly developed by Indonesia’s state-owned defence equipment manufacturer Pindad and Turkish military vehicles specialist FNSS.
Indonesia also has a joint production cooperation with Turkish company Tusas to manufacture 12 units of combat drones. In 2022, Indonesia signed a contract with Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan to acquire Khan tactical ballistic missiles.
“My guess is, because of Indonesia’s budget issues and narrow fiscal space, Prabowo may have turned to cheap defence equipment suppliers like India,” Hadza said.
He cautioned against further speculation and referred to Küçükcan’s explanation as to the real reason why Erdogan walked out of the room during Prabowo’s speech.
Last week, Indonesia’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said on X that he discussed “collaboration on advanced technologies, such as [supersonic cruise missiles] BrahMos” with Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, chief of India’s navy, during the latter’s visit to Jakarta.
President Prabowo Subianto (third from left) with defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (left) at the military academy in Magelang, Central Java, in October. Indonesia has expressed interest in purchasing the BrahMos missiles from India. Photo: Indonesia’s presidential palace/AFP
Jakarta has expressed interest in purchasing the missile, which India jointly developed with Russia, but has yet to sign an agreement with New Delhi.
Hadza said “the diplomatic gaffe” with Turkey was the latest sign that Prabowo’s foreign policy was dictated more by his “personal calculations” than the veteran diplomats at the foreign ministry.
“Prabowo chose his confidant to be the foreign minister. Unfortunately, he has no professional experience in the diplomatic field,” Hadza said.
Hadza noted that it is unusual for Indonesia to appoint a politician as foreign minister instead of a seasoned diplomat. Sugiono, the current foreign minister, previously served as deputy chairman of a parliamentary commission overseeing defence and foreign affairs.
“The public is very concerned. Whatever Prabowo does in the international arena, it will definitely have a very significant effect on how we will consolidate our political position.”
The Israel question?
Addressing speculation that Erdogan was offended by Prabowo’s perceived jab at Ankara for having formal ties with Israel, Yon Machmudi, an expert in Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Indonesia, said Erdogan’s walking out “does not show his disapproval of Prabowo’s speech”.
“It cannot be denied that Turkey has had official relations with Israel since [1949], but if we look at Erdogan’s statements, it is clear that Erdogan has been defending Palestine, even some Palestinian resistance factions were given a place to live in Turkey,” Yon said.
He suggested Ankara diplomats clear the air by clarifying Erdogan’s agenda at that time, , including the name of the head of state that he met with, as well as releasing a statement that Erdogan agreed with Prabowo’s remarks, “so that there is no impression that Turkey walked out or disagreed with the views expressed by the Indonesian president”. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
