Erdoğan mocks rumors he’ll flee to Malaysia, poses for a selfie with PM Razak

ANKARA

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak takes a selfie with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on April 17. Photo: Anadolu Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has mocked rumors that he would flee to Malaysia or Sudan before the March 30 local elections by saying that he dined with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak in Ankara on April 17.

“They were saying the prime minister would flee to Malaysia or Sudan. So, what happened? The prime minister of Malaysia was here yesterday. We dined together,” Erdoğan said at an expanded meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) provincial chairs on April 18.

Meanwhile, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported that Razak shot a “selfie” with Erdoğan during the dinner at the prime minister’s office. Razak shared the shot with almost 2 million followers of him on Twitter on April 19:

My selfie with PM Erdogan ! pic.twitter.com/h6qWBEuAlc

— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) April 19, 2014

Regarding the presidential elections scheduled for August, Erdoğan repeated that his party has not decided on a candidate yet.

“We’ve initiated a consultation process. The first consultation was with our people on March 30. We met with our deputies in this hall the previous day. We’ll consult with all related parties. We’ll also speak to our president [Abdullah Gül] in detail. We’ll take the best step for Turkey after these consultations,” Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan told his lawmakers on April 16 that he was still undecided as to whether he would pursue the presidency but vowed to use the full powers given by the Constitution if he is elected head of state in the popular vote.