Claim: Şimşek wanted to go to Davos but was blocked by Erdoğan

The Davos Summit, which AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once said he would "never attend again," has begun with the participation of leaders such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Sources speaking to Bloomberg stated that Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek had planned to attend the summit, which began today, but changed his decision following Erdoğan's request.

According to Bloomberg, neither Erdoğan's office nor Şimşek's office commented on the claim.

"CONTACTS WITH FOREIGN INVESTORS WILL BECOME COMPLICATED"

World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab had described and condemned the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel as a "terrorist attack."

Bloomberg noted that Erdoğan's decision for Turkish officials not to attend Davos would complicate Turkey's efforts to establish contacts with foreign investors.

ERDOĞAN HAD MADE THE "ONE MINUTE" OUTBURST TO PERES

Erdoğan has not attended the summit since a debate he had during a panel in 2009 with then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and moderator David Ignatius. In the incident, known as the Davos Crisis or the "one minute" outburst, Erdoğan said he would never attend the Davos summit again after reacting to Peres and Ignatius.

Then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan had said to the 9th President of Israel, Shimon Peres, at the World Economic Forum on January 20, 2009: "Mr. Peres, you are older than me. Your voice is very loud. I know that your voice being this loud is a requirement of a psychology of guilt. My voice will not be this loud, you should know that. As for killing, you know very well how to kill! I know very well how you killed and shot children on the beaches."

ERDOĞAN HAD SAID 'MY REACTION WAS TO THE MODERATOR'

Following the Davos Summit, Erdoğan made a statement regarding the widely discussed 'One minute' outburst: "I did not target the Israeli people, President Peres, or the Jewish people in any way. My attitude here was towards the moderator."

Although Erdoğan did not attend the summit, ministers and government officials had continued to participate.

News Source: 12punto