Turkey was the only country of the 39 members of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to speak for Pakistan to be removed from the Gray List at the plenary meeting in Paris on Friday.
The growing Pakistan-Turkey equation is the development of a radical new Islamic axis that seeks to overshadow the established order led by Saudi Arabia. Turkey led by Racep Tayyip Erdogan, who is trying to revive the legacy of the Ottoman empire for its political sustenance, along with the deep state of Pakistan, are sending irregulars to Azerbaijan in the old conflict with Armenia.
According to diplomats based in Paris and Brussels, all countries except Turkey were in favor of keeping Pakistan on the Gray List for failure to meet all expired deadlines. For the record, Pakistan addressed only 21 of the 27 action plan items, with another review imminent in February 2021. The Paris Plenary was held from October 21-23.
While at the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) meeting before the Plenary, Turkey, China and Saudi Arabia spoke of Pakistan being removed from the Gray List for technical reasons, only Turkey was left to support their new friend Pakistan in the Plenary.
“Turkey has been fueling trouble everywhere, from Iraq, Syria to Libya and Azerbaijan. They, along with Pakistan, with ISI and military experience in organizing terrorism and Islamist insurgencies, are on the brink of violence, instability and unrest in different parts of the world, ”said an observer from the Middle East.
Like Pakistan, Turkey is a pariah state at odds with Russia for Syria and Armenia-Azerbaijan, with the United States for purchasing Russian weapons, with the EU for migration issues, and with India for its undue interference in Jammu and Kashmir. Istanbul hardly has any relations with Beijing, despite the fact that the former is a great commercial power. Pakistan depends on Turkey for defense cooperation and to make statements against India on the J&K issue.
While the FATF Gray List case in Pakistan will come under review in February 2021, all anti-India terrorist groups and mafia bosses are based in that country, either from the Mumbai explosion in 1993 accused Dawood Ibrahim, the Mumbai massacre in 2008 accused of Hafiz Saeed and the attack on the Pathankot air base in 2016 accused Masood Azhar.
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