Malaysia's University of Malaya awarded an honorary doctorate to visiting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday. Erdoğan was on the first day of his Asia tour.
The university’s chancellor and Sultan of Perak Nazrin Shah attended the ceremony for the doctorate presentation in Kuala Lumpur at Putrajaya International Convention Center. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who earlier welcomed Erdoğan at the airport, was also in attendance.
The Malaysian university awarded Erdoğan the doctorate in international relations in recognition of his contributions to global diplomacy. Erdoğan has raised Türkiye’s profile in the international community during more than two decades of his Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) rule, during which he has served as prime minister and president. Erdoğan is also scheduled to meet with Ibrahim during his visit to Malaysia.
The Turkish president was accompanied by first lady Emine Erdoğan and a delegation of ministers, including the foreign minister, energy and natural resources minister, national defense minister, minister of industry and technology, minister of agriculture and forestry, minister of commerce and his chief adviser for foreign policy and security.
Addressing the audience after receiving his doctorate, Erdoğan hailed the friendship between Türkiye and Malaysia. The president said he was pleased to visit Malaysia five years after his last visit. “I feel at home, among brothers and sisters, whenever I visit your beautiful country. May Allah bless our solidarity. Despite the distance between our countries, Türkiye and Malaysia are brotherly countries, friends and partners. We elevated this partnership to a strategic level in 2014 and a comprehensive strategic level in 2022,” Erdoğan said.
The president reiterated that Malaysia hosted Turkish youth pursuing academic careers “during the era of dominance by the repressive mindset,” referring to a ban on headscarf-wearing students before and after the 1997 coup in Türkiye. “Today, Türkiye itself hosts university students from many countries and we see more and more Turkish alumni of Malaysian universities and Malaysian alumni of Turkish universities,” he said. “Malaysia became an education hub thanks to the activities of the University of Malaya administered by His Excellency Sultan Nazrin Shah. The university plays a crucial role in academic studies with its 40,000 students,” Erdoğan said.
