The agency said Daily Sabah Diplomacy on Friday quoted Erdogan as saying that it was “unfortunate” that Saudi Arabia had put “pressure” on Pakistan.

As a result, he said Pakistan had to obey such threats, adding that Saudi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also bullied other Muslim countries.

“This is not a first for the countries since they have the tendency to put pressure on other countries in doing or not doing things,” he told the Turkish media in Kuala Lumpur.

Erdogan divulged that the Saudis had threatened to withdraw the loan from Pakistan’s central bank and replace four million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia with Bangladeshi workers.

Pakistan has been facing a major balance of payment crisis for which it has sought massive loans from Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Pakistan did not attend the four-day KL Summit, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was slated to speak at the summit, cancelled his trip at the last minute.

IANS said Saudi Arabia sees Turkey, backed by Malaysia and Pakistan, as a challenge to its leadership in the Islamic world, as the three nations have in the last decade strengthened their alliance.

IANS said Erdogan had pledged to continue his country’s cooperation with Malaysia, Qatar and Iran over both regional and international issues.