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Delhi has retaliated against Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized India for Kashmir at the UN General Assembly. In his speech, President Erdogan said: “The Kashmir issue must be resolved through negotiations within the framework of the UN resolution, but Delhi’s decision on Kashmir has complicated the situation.”
In response, India said the comments amounted to interference in India’s internal affairs and were “completely unacceptable”.
President Erdogan also embarrassed Delhi by offering to mediate on the Kashmir issue just before his visit to India three years ago.
You have repeatedly raised the Kashmir issue, but what is Turkey’s goal?
Indeed, the way that Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly attacked India openly over the Kashmir issue in recent years and harmonized with India’s arch-rival Pakistan is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to digest. Delhi.
Just before his visit to India in May 2016, he told an Indian television channel that “multilateral talks” were needed to stop the bloodshed in Kashmir and that Turkey was ready to join.
India then showed the guest diplomatic etiquette, saying that Kashmir was a “bilateral issue” between India and Pakistan under the Shimla Agreement.
However, after President Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue at the UN for two years in a row, India has reacted strongly this time.
UN Permanent Representative to the UN Tirumurthy tweeted almost immediately: “Turkey must learn to respect the sovereignty of other countries, think deeply about its own policies!”
But the question is, why is President Erdogan repeatedly talking about Kashmir so far from Turkey?
“Turkey really wants to promote itself as a global brand,” said Asli Aydintasbas, senior policy member at the European Council on Foreign Relations, from Istanbul.
“President Erdogan is trying to uphold his legacy to move Turkey from a mid-size emerging power to one of the most powerful countries of the 21st century.”
“And here he sees Kashmir as a great opportunity.”
“Turkey’s international image is already clouded by tensions in the Middle East and Syria and its human rights record within the country. Now that Turkey has taken control of Kashmir, Turkey seeks to emerge as a moderate power in the world,” he said .
Earlier this year, Erdogan expressed his unconditional support for Kashmir in a speech to the parliament of Pakistan, his close ally.
He even compared Kashmir to the Allied war with the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
That is why Kanwal Sibal, former Indian Foreign Secretary and former Indian Ambassador to Turkey, believes that Erdogan’s “Islamic and pro-Pakistan agenda” is clear in repeatedly raising the Kashmir issue.
Sibal said: “First of all, you are responding to the request of your friend Imran Khan here. Second, your commitment to the Muslim Ummah or brotherhood is working here too.
“When he arrived in Pakistan, he only addressed the Muslims of Kashmir, which shows his compassion for people of other faiths.”
“It’s all part of his larger plan, where he wants to see himself as the undisputed leader of the Islamic world.”
“Turkey is in fact isolated in its own neighborhood, so they want to approach India and Pakistan to solve the Kashmir crisis,” he added.
“Turkey believes that an axis is being built against them in the Middle East, led by the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
“And since relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel are also gaining support from Washington, they are now eager to forge closer ties with other Muslim countries.”
“As a result, they are leaning towards South Asia to find a way out of their marginalized and cornered areas.”
Although Turkey and Pakistan are traditional allies, Turkey has been trying to boost economic ties with India since the time of President Turgut Ozal in the 1990s.
However, the way President Erdogan is moving away from the ideology of secularism and leaning towards Islamic politics, India no longer sees a special future for that initiative.
And Kashmir is fueling the deterioration of diplomatic and economic ties between Delhi and Ankara.
Source: BBC
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