Turkish President Rechep Tayyip Ardoan raised the Kashmir issue while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September last month.
President Ardoan said that the international community has failed to find a solution to the Kashmir problem for the last 72 years.
Ardoan had said that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir problem through dialogue. The Turkish President said that 8 million people are trapped in Kashmir despite the UN resolution.
Apart from Ardoan, Malaysia also raised the issue of Kashmir in the UN General Assembly. It is being said that this attitude of Turkey and Malaysia in the UN General Assembly is a setback for India.
India has regretted this attitude of Turkey. On Friday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ravish Kumar said that Kashmir is an internal matter of India. He said that the attitude of Turkey and Malaysia is very regrettable.
Ravish Kumar said, "India and Turkey have friendly relations." But since 6 August we regret that there have been frequent statements on India's internal affairs from Turkey. They are factually incorrect and biased. ''
Relations between Pakistan and Turkey have been much better than India. Both countries are Sunni dominated by the Islamic world. Ardoan has always had good relations with Pakistan.
In July 2016, when the military recapture of Turkey failed in the coup against Ardoan, Pakistan openly came in favor of Ardoan. The then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif supported Ardoan. After this, Sharif also visited Turkey. Since then, the relations between Ardoan and Pakistan have improved.
Since 2017, Turkey has invested one billion dollars in Pakistan. Turkey is working on several projects in Pakistan. It has also been providing metrobus rapid transit system to Pakistan. Work is still going on for the proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.
If there is an agreement between the two countries that bilateral trade can increase from $ 900 million to $ 10 billion.
Turkish Airlines has also expanded significantly in Pakistan. Istanbul has developed into a regional aviation hub. Most Pakistanis go to the countries of the West via Turkey.
However, Pakistanis need a visa to travel to Turkey. If a free trade agreement is reached, the relationship between the two countries will be deeper. In recent years, tourists from the West and Europe have come down in Turkey, so Turkey wants to attract tourists from Islamic countries.
Turkey has long been an economic and political model for Pakistan. Former Pakistan Army chief and former President General Pervez Musharraf has been an admirer of Turkish founder Mustafa Kamal Pasha.
Musharraf has been praising Pasha's secular reforms and strict governance. The current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has been praising Ardoan.
In 2016, Imran Khan called Ardoan a hero after he failed a coup in Turkey. Of course, Imran Khan also does not want that there should be an army coup against the political government in Pakistan, which is always feared in Pakistan.
Internationally, Turkish-Pakistani unity has been evident for decades. Both countries have been supporting each other on their internal issues. The close of both countries is also related to Azerbaijan.
This friendship of the three countries falls heavily on Armenia. Pakistan is the only country in the world that has not recognized Armenia as a sovereign nation. Azerbaijan makes its claim on the disputed territory Nagorno-Karabakh and Pakistan also supports it. Turkey also has the same attitude in this matter.
In return, Turkey supports Pakistan over Kashmir. On 26 February this year, when India claimed an air strike at alleged extremist camps in Balakot, Pakistan, tensions between the two countries had increased significantly. On 27 February, Pakistan launched a counter-air attack on India. In the aerial conflict between India and Pakistan, Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets and an Indian pilot Abhinandan was arrested by Pakistan which was later abandoned. This step of Pakistan was praised by President Ardoan.
Even on 5 August, when India neutralized Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir under its control, Prime Minister Imran Khan approached President Ardoan and he supported Pakistan's stand.
Ardoan also presents himself as a major leader and advocate of the Muslim world. Although the two countries have good friendships, the friends of both are not the same. Turkey and China do not have good relations but China and Pakistan have very good relations. Turkey openly criticizes the government's behavior towards Uyghur Muslims in China, while Pakistan remains silent.
The relationship between Turkey and Saudi Arabia is not good but the relationship between Pakistan and Saudi is very good. Turkey was very vocal against the murder of journalist Jamal Khashojji, but Pakistan remained absolutely silent.
Pakistan and Turkey alike are battling separatism. Pakistan stands with Ardoan in the ongoing conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey. Turkey's conflict with the Kurdish rebels has been going on for a long time. In 2015, Turkey also requested the help of intelligence and resources from Pakistan in this conflict.
The Pakturk School became the most pressing issue in the cordial relations between the two countries. These schools were part of the global network of the influential Islamic religious leader Fettullah Gulen. At one time, Fetullah was an associate of Ardoan. Through these schools, Turkish culture as well as Gülen's political ideas were encouraged.
When the coup was attempted in 2016, Ardoan blamed Gulen and his Hizmat movement for this.
After this, Ardoan told the rest of the countries that Gülen is a supporter of terrorism, so he should close his schools running here. Pakistan did not reject Ardoan's demand. The first refused to give a residency visa to those working in schools and later forced them to leave Pakistan.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the Gülenists as terrorists and handed over the Pakturk schools to the Marif Foundation. Meaning that Pakistan did not reduce Ardoan's fortunes.
On the other hand, Turkey also supports Pakistan's stand on Afghanistan problem. However, Pakistan and Turkey were with the Mujahideen during the intervention of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Because of this, the two countries did not remain separated from the confrontation of the Islamic world due to cooperation with America.
Pakistan had to be against the Taliban when the US attacked Afghanistan in October 2001.
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