Although speculation about whether or not President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye walked out due to political reasons during President Prabowo’s speech at the Developing Eight (D8) Summit has been clarified by both Indonesia and Turkiye, Indonesian foreign policy towards the Middle East under the Prabowo administration may still need a fundamental rethink.

There has been no doubt that Prabowo is looking to amplify Indonesia’s global role in world politics including in the Middle East and Muslim world. To resist constraints shaped by the intensifying multidimensional competition between China and the United States, the administration has been exploring alternative venues and global stages to find room for manoeuvre. The Middle East and Muslim world have always been attractive for Indonesia for various reasons, such as similarities in religious identity with the majority of the Indonesian citizens, being alternative sources of investment, being a destination for Indonesian overseas workers, or solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian independence.