Mahathir at the conclusion of the mini-Islamic summit: Qatar has passed the blockade and achieved impressive successes

The Kuala Lumpur Islamic Summit concluded its work by emphasizing the determination of the founding countries to move forward in achieving their goals by working to restore Islamic civilization through cooperation in the fields of education, technology, industry and defense.

In conclusion, it was announced that the name of the summit will be changed to Berdana Forum for Dialogue and Civilization. In his speech at the conclusion of the summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that Qatar had surpassed the blockade imposed on it and had achieved impressive successes.

He added that Qatar "has been besieged like Iran and succeeded in its rise and achieved impressive successes, but such a blockade may not be limited to Iran and Qatar, in a world where countries impose unilateral punitive measures and decisions."

"Malaysia and other countries must remember that such measures may be imposed on us as well. This calls us to achieve self-reliance," he said.

Mahathir invited to this summit in order to discuss a new strategy to deal with the problems of the Islamic world and improve the lives of Muslims. The core of the summit was originally formed from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar, but the Malaysian Prime Minister said that he had invited Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Islamic countries to participate.

Mahathir, 94, said that the Kuala Lumpur summit was not intended to be a substitute for regional institutions, and his office also stressed in a statement that there was no intention to form a "new bloc, as some critics suggested."

Earlier yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said - in response to a question about the absence of Pakistan and Indonesia from the summit with supposed Saudi and Emirati pressure - that this position is not the first of its kind.

Erdogan mentioned that Saudi Arabia has put pressure on Pakistan and made pledges to the Central Bank of Pakistan, adding that there are four million Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia threatening to expel them and replace them with workers from Bangladesh, and to withdraw deposits from the Central Bank of Pakistan.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan - who was one of the enthusiastic leaders to hold the summit - had taken a decision not to attend during the last hours before the start of the summit last Wednesday, and Indonesia intended to send the vice president, but later retracted that.

Reuters reported, quoting Pakistani officials, who asked not to be named, that Khan withdrew under pressure from Saudi Arabia, his country's closest ally. However, media reports quoted officials also denying that this was the reason for not representing the second largest Islamic country in the world.

On the other hand, Reuters quoted a Saudi source as saying that Riyadh had received an invitation to attend, but it required that the summit be held under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Before the launch of the summit, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that a telephone conversation took place between Mahathir and King Salman bin Abdulaziz, during which he stressed that the issues raised by the Kuala Lumpur Summit should be discussed through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.