One wonders why New Delhi continues to look the other way even when Ankara keeps hurting secular, pluralist India’s interests.  Observers say ever since Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over as President of Turkey, it has moved very fast along the path of authoritarianism. Turkey today is much closer to Pakistan, with which India has had a history of arguments and wars. During his visit to Pakistan in February this year, Turkish President Erdogan backed Islamabad’s position on Kashmir. He said the issue should be addressed according to the UN resolution.

President Erdogan has been on very excellent terms with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir, who happens to be the de facto head of Pakistan today. During Munir’s visit to Tukey in September 2023, the Erdogan regime conferred upon him the Legion of Merit in recognition of his services towards promoting defence relations between Turkey and Pakistan.

Amid the current friction between India and Pakistan, in the wake of the recent Islamabad-sponsored Pahalgam terror attack, Turkey has ramped up its military engagement with Islamabad. Turkish military cargo planes have delivered combat equipment to Pakistan. President Erdogan has supported aggressor Pakistan by equating it with aggrieved India and apparently stressing the need for dialogue and peace in the region.

In his recent telephonic conversation with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Erdogan has supported Islamabad’s handling of the situation  and assured that Turkey was “ready to do what it can to prevent the tensions from escalating.” Erdogan has also described “Pakistan’s proposal to conduct an international investigation” into the terrorist attack as “valuable.”

The Observers say the Erdogan regime has long been highly critical of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India. In 2016, Turkish cleric Serdar Demirel visited Kolkata to participate in a protest march organized by a section of the Muslims opposed to the Indian government’s bid to apply a Uniform Civil Code throughout the country. Given the clout of Erdogan in Turkey today, it could not have been possible for Demirel to do so without his (Erdogan’s) patronage for this action.

However, India has so far refrained from taking any appropriate action against the Erdogan regime. New Delhi has continued its diplomatic engagement with Ankara. As for India’s commercial engagement with Turkey, it remains firm. Reports are that the Turkish Airlines reaps benefits from its codeshare partnership with the IndiGo.  The two carriers operate joint flights to more than 30 European and US destinations.

The observers add what President Erdogan is doing constitutes a threat to democracy the world over. India must lead the world to thwart the Turkish threat. Ironically, India is not alone in glossing over the growing authoritarianism of the Erdogan regime. Most of the leaders in the world’s leading democracies, including the United States, the so-called leader of the free world, have so far refrained from condemning the Erdogan regime’s authoritarianism. Not only that, the US rather seems to be patting Turkey on the diplomatic chessboard. Thanks, largely to Washington, Ankara continues to be a member of the NATO.

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