February 12, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR – The reconstruction of war-torn Gaza was a central topic of discussion between leaders during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-day visit to Malaysia, his first official visit under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s tenure.
Both leaders of the Muslim-majority countries expressed their individual commitments to the rebuilding of Gaza and the support they would provide to the Palestinians.
During a joint press conference after their bilateral meeting in Putrajaya on Feb 11, Datuk Seri Anwar said that Kuala Lumpur, along with Ankara, would continue providing humanitarian assistance for Gaza’s reconstruction.
“As I mentioned to President Erdogan just now, we will support the Japanese initiative to set up a fund for Gaza’s reconstruction. They (Tokyo) have asked us to co-chair the East Asia Reconstruction Plan for Gaza and Palestine,” he said.
Details of the fund, which was first announced in January, are yet to be finalised, The Straits Times has learnt.
Meanwhile, Mr Erdogan highlighted that Turkey has sent over 100 ships to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
“We will continue to send humanitarian aid to those in need. Gaza and Palestine are two issues where Malaysia’s stance deserves appreciation,” Mr Erdogan said.
On Oct 7, 2023, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages to Gaza.
A ceasefire deal was reached in January 2025, just before the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term in office, intended to halt the fighting and to allow humanitarian assistance to reach people in Gaza.
Throughout the course of the conflict, Mr Anwar and Mr Erdogan have consistently voiced their support for Palestinians and Hamas, attributing the ongoing decades-long conflict to Israel’s displacement of Palestinians since 1948.
Describing the Israeli occupation of Gaza as the “core problem” during the Feb 11 press conference in Malaysia, Mr Erdogan urged Israel to uphold its commitment to leave Gaza under the ceasefire agreement. He reiterated the call for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On Feb 10, Hamas announced it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what the group said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement. In response, Israel has called upon its military to prepare for “any possible scenario” in Gaza.
In a special public lecture in Putrajaya on Feb 10, Mr Erdogan said he wanted Israel to bear an estimated US$100 billion (S$135 billion) of the rebuilding cost in Gaza.
On Feb 5, Mr Trump had proposed an extraordinary plan for the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip, resettle around two million Palestinians in other countries and turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East”, drawing strong opposition from major European countries and the Islamic world.
In Putrajaya on Feb 11, the leaders of Malaysia and Turkey also affirmed the strong bilateral ties between the two countries. Mr Erdogan presented Mr Anwar, 77, with a Turkish-made Togg T10X electric vehicle as a symbol of solidarity and friendship. The Malaysian leader had earlier driven Mr Erdogan to the press conference in the white sport utility vehicle.
Both leaders also pledged to double bilateral trade from US$5.28 billion in 2024 to US$10 billion in the future, though no specific timeline was set.
Kuala Lumpur and Ankara further strengthened their defence and security cooperation with the exchange of 11 memorandums of understanding and agreements. One of the key highlights agreed on was the procurement of a multi-purpose mission ship for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency from Istanbul-based Desan Shipyard.
On June 2024, Malaysia’s navy procured a second batch of three littoral mission ships (LMS) from Turkish defence company Savunma Teknolojileri Muhendislik to counter China’s encroachment into Malaysian maritime zones.
At the press conference on Feb 11, Mr Anwar also conveyed his appreciation to the Turkish government for its trust in Malaysia Airports Holdings, which manages the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.
On Feb 10 upon his arrival in the country, Mr Erdogan was personally received by the Malaysian Prime Minister, a rare move as this is typically done by a designated minister-in-attendance.
Mr Erdogan and Mr Anwar have a personal relationship that goes way back.
Addressing Mr Erdogan as “brother” and his wife Emine as “sister” on Feb 10, Mr Anwar thanked both for supporting him and his family during the difficult time when he faced sodomy allegations in 2008.
In June 2008, Mr Anwar sought refuge at the Turkish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for two days due to a sodomy allegation. He left the embassy after receiving assurances of his safety from the then Barisan Nasional-controlled Malaysian government.
Mr Anwar also drew a parallel between his political journey and that of Mr Erdogan, describing both as having risen “from imprisonment to the highest office in the land”.
Mr. Anwar was jailed for eight years on two separate sodomy charges before he was elected as prime minister in November 2022. Meanwhile, Mr Erdogan served four months in jail in 1999 on a conviction for inciting racial hatred before being appointed prime minister in 2003, a position he held until 2014, after which he became president.
In his first press conference after being sworn in as top executive of Malaysia in November 2022, Mr Anwar enthusiastically put Mr Erdogan’s congratulatory call on a speaker for media and live broadcasting.
International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia chairman Maszlee Malik said both Islamic world leaders shared a common personal journey and close friendship.
“They symbolise the perseverance of struggle towards justice and democratic accountability. Imprisonment, suppression and rights violations never stopped them from pursuing their vision of a better country for their people and humanity as a whole,” the head of the think-tank under Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Office told ST.
Dr Maszlee, a former education minister, added that bilateral cooperation on the Gaza issue signifies the beginning of “new multicultural and multipolar world civilisation to replace the current unipolar Western-hegemonic civilisation”.
- Lu Wei Hoong is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times. He loves to travel and discover hidden gems of stories.