Leaders from Qatar, Turkey, Iran among those attending Kuala Lumpur Summit

The Kuala Lumpur Summit kicks off today with heads of state from Qatar, Turkey and Iran in attendance.

With over 400 participants at the summit, Muslim leaders will have the opportunity to discuss solutions to various challenges affecting Islamic countries. However, give the absence of some notable leaders, like Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, it is unlikely that unanimously adopted policies across the Islamic world will come from this week’s meetings.

Chief among the issues up for discussion is the treatment of Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar, which many Muslim-majority countries have decried. The Rohingya have fled from the mostly Buddhist state since 2017, following a violent military crackdown and an ongoing campaign of persecution that has been widely denounced as ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Participants at the summit will likely condemn the treatment of the Rohingya to strengthen their human rights advocacy records. Indeed, while the summit’s attendees no doubt support the Rohingya, the situation provides an opportunity for countries like Iran and Turkey—often targets of human rights violation accusations—to improve their records.

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