The Cable
Watch Bill Clinton and Others Memorialize International Icon Muhammad Ali
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will not attend after his requests to honor Ali were denied.
The eyes of the nation, and perhaps much of the world, are trained on Louisville, Kentucky Friday, as boxer Muhammad Ali is laid to rest. This includes Jordan’s King Abdullah, but not Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan cut his trip to Louisville short, participating in a Muslim ceremony to honor Ali Thursday but leaving before Friday’s events. The private Dogan news agency reported that the Turkish leader was angry that funeral organizers denied his request to lay a piece from the cloth covering the Kaaba, in Mecca, on Ali’s coffin.
Former President Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal, and others are set to memorialize Ali, the three time heavyweight champion whose social stances — including unapologetically converting to Islam and refusing to fight in the Vietnam War — were as well known as his exploits in the ring. He died on June 3 at the age of 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Watch Ali make his final journey and his memorial service below.
Photo credit: BARRY JARVINIAN/Getty Images
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