Erdogan boycotts Davos economic forum in protest against support for Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and other senior officials not to participate in the World Economic Forum due to the organisers’ support for Israel in its military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The agency cited sources as saying that Simsek had intended to attend the annual forum in Davos, Switzerland, but following President Erdogan’s request, has announced that he will not go this year.

Bloomberg said that the offices of the Turkish president and his finance minister refused to comment on the matter. The World Economic Forum did not immediately respond to the request for comment.

Co-founder and CEO of the Davos forum, Klaus Schwab, slammed the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October as a “terrorist act”. This year’s forum kicked off yesterday under the slogan “Rebuilding Confidence”.

Heads of state and governments from around the world are expected to attend the five-day conference taking place amid Israel’s devastating aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip and fears of a regional spill-over.

In 2009, Erdogan left the forum after a famous on-stage argument with then Israeli President Shimon Peres over Israel’s aggression and crimes in Palestine.

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