Engaging with Turkey

Fresh from victory in referendum on constitutional reforms, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a two-day state visit to New Delhi on April 30^th, honoring the invitation extended by President Pranab Mukherjee. Having consolidated his position as supreme leader of Turkey with a slender margin in a rather botched up referendum process, Erdogan who will be President of Turkish Republic till 2020 is on a mission to recalibrate ties with various nations. President Erdogan earlier visited India in 2008 as the Prime Minister is now currently accompanied by first lady and 150 delegates.

India and Turkey upholders of two greatest civilizations occupy pivotal positions in Asia. These glorious legacies also share religious, historical and cultural connect which dates back to 1481-82 when Muslim rulers of India established diplomatic relations with Ottoman Sultans. Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi of Turkey the architect of Sufism whose philosophical moorings transcended the narrow boundaries of nations finds huge acceptance and appreciation in India. India was one of the few nations which not only stood against the atrocities inflicted on Turkey post World War I, but also extended unstinted support to Turkey’s freedom movement. The Khilafat Movement (1919-24), an agitation by Indian Muslims at the end of World War I pressurizing the British to declare the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam reflects the deep connect between India and Turkey. Similarly, All Indian Medical Mission headed by Dr. M. A. Ansari, (grandfather of Vice-President Hamid Ansari) travelled to Turkey for rendering medical assistance during Balkan wars and World War I. Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize India immediately after Independence.

Despite the legacy of historical connect, Turkey falls in the category of nations like Pakistan and China in terms of its bilateral relations with India. India and Turkey have been traversing two diametrically divergent pathways. While Independent India spear-headed the non-alignment movement, Turkey had been a NATO ally. Further Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan were hitched together under the Baghdad pact or the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) in 1955. Baghdad Pact was an attempt to contain the Soviet Union. Unlike NATO, CENTO showed signs of withering as early as 1958 due to coup in Iraq and completely crumbled when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974. Though CENTO decimated, irrespective of the regime change, Pakistan-Turkey relations prospered. After partition, Pakistan inherited the windfall of the salubrious tidings from Turkey. Islamabad in a bid to boost its military bounty of arms and ammunition, aligned with the Western powers. Alternatively, Pakistan deftly aligned with other Muslim nations in the region under the realm of invincible didactic Islamic affiliations. Clamoring for influence, by 1969 Pakistan joined the 54-nation association OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) to tacitly give voice to its maligned narratives. Turkey lent support to Pakistan on Kashmir issue reciprocally Pakistan was empathic to Turkey’s position on Cyprus, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Though Indian leadership persevered to foster relations with Turkey, Ankara which was heavily tilted towards Islamabad showed no signs of reciprocation.

In a highly consequential coincidence, President of Cyprus and Turkey visited India back to back. Needless to say, India’s diplomatic mettle is thus put to a tough test. President of Cyprus Nico Anastasiades was in New Delhi from 25^th to 28^th April seeking India’s help in reunification of Cyprus. Turkey is in possession of 37% of area of Cyprus since its attack in 1974. India had always supported reunification of Cyprus while the hawkish Erdogan is the lone insurmountable upheaval for the same and refuses to recognize Republic of Cyprus. India and Cyprus share many similarities and the island country with cumulative FDI of $9 billion is the eight largest investor of India. New Delhi signed a double-taxation avoidance treaty with Cyprus. President Nico during his visit reposed faith in India as a stabilizing factor to play an active role in reunification and reaffirmed support for India’s permanent membership to extended UNSC and entry into NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group). It is known that Turkey strongly detests reunification of Cyprus. Apparently in 1983 the Turkish Cypriot (region under the control of Turkey) declared independence rechristening itself as Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) which was condemned by UNSC. But Turkey and TRNC continued to exchange ambassadors violating UNSC resolutions. Interestingly prior to Erdogan’s New Delhi visit, Vice-President Hamid Ansari who was on a visit to Armenia paid homage to victims of the genocide at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial. In early 20^th century over 1.5 million Armenians were alleged killed by the Ottoman Sultans. Turkey denies the charges of genocide and now both countries have frosty relations. Sharing his feelings at an event in Armenia, Ansari reiterated that “any killing of human beings by other human beings can generate only one feeling. There can’t be two opinions regarding killing of innocent people be it in this region, Asia, Africa or in Latin America. We are obliged to adopt universal values. It is part of history nobody can be proud of”. This kind of indirect reference to traumatic genocide episode by Vice President of India few days ahead of President Erdogan’s state visit was unanticipated. Perhaps, these remarks may have left a bitter after taste too. In one of its toughest diplomatic exercises, India engaged three frosty neighbors in a span of one week-Cyprus, Armenia and Turkey.

The situation became even more murkier with President Erdogan in an interview to media channel days before his state visit suggested a “multilateral dialogue” for resolving Kashmir issue. Besides, he opined that both India and Pakistan are equally eligible for a membership to the elite club of NSG. This strident pitching for Pakistan and controversial approach for Kashmir issue has reinforced India’s worst fears about Turkey’s Islamabad levitation. India for long has been deeply riled by Turkey’s involvement in various infrastructure projects in Pakistan-Occupied region. While, Erdogan government seriously believes that the ideologues of the Turkish preacher and politician Fethullah Gulen “infiltrated” India. Turkish authorities in unequivocal terms announced that the Gulen Movement or Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization (FETO) orchestrated the failed coup bid last year and intensified crackdown on Gulen followers. Post-Coup, Turkey asked India to act against FETO, but New Delhi hadn’t responded. Erdogan in his bilateral talks raised this issue. Interestingly, for all his unabashed partisan statements, Erdogan was very enthusiastic about forging ties with India.

Erdogan who has been Prime Minister for 12 years was extremely popular in Turkey for his revolutionary economic reforms that transformed Turkish economy. Despite, the ever-deepening relations with Pakistan, Turkey aspires to enhance economic ties with India, which is currently one of the fastest growing economies. Addressing the Indo-Turkish Business Forum Meeting, Prime Minister Modi and President Erdogan, stressed on the need to deepen trade and investment relations and capitalize on the growth of untapped potentials. The bilateral trade as of now stands at $6.4 billion and both leaders set a target of $10 billion for 2020. Turkey is known for its expertise in construction. Modi besides inviting the Turkish investments towards flagship programs like Make in India and Smart Cities drew attention to the growing Infrastructure requirements of India.

Despite strategic twists, mysterious admonitions and nonconformist approach, World leaders are hardly freezing ties with Turkey headed by wily politician like Erdogan. India too, regardless of the deep-seated convergences, intends to engage with Turkey for it is an important strategic world power. India and Turkey over the years have been cooperating with each other in various multilateral organizations like Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process initiated in 2011, G-20, Asia Cooperation Dialogue and collaborating on “Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia”.

Under Prime Minister Modi India is trying to surmount the phenomenon of de-hyphenation in international diplomacy. In the past three years, India actively engaged with different partners in Middle East like Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and now patiently engaging with Turkey. In Erdogan’s current visit- both countries reached agreement on early conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. Jamia Milia Islamia University, cofounded by Dr. M.A. Ansari, conferred honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on President Erdogan for his contribution towards international cooperation, peace and security. Intriguingly, the prestigious Indian university bestowed unique honor on a person who championed education purge in Turkey after a failed coup attempt. Though it is widely known that India’s engagement with Turkey may hardly yield positive outcomes for all its bias towards Pakistan, but India’s diplomatic efforts might be worth the wait on a long run. In the past two decades, India with its steady economic growth began to draw attention of various nations. India is emerging as a positive gateway for propitious investments; for all the material benefits Turkey may ill afford to miss the boat. 

@ Copyrights reserved.