Turkey Softens Stand On Kashmir
Amidst a failing economy and reducing political support, the Turkish strongman Erdogan needs all the international help and investment he can muster. No matter what Pakistan’s problem with its neighbour, India is an important country and a major economic player in the world.
Therefore despite a show of solidarity and goodwill between Pakistan and Turkey all is indeed not well between the two countries as Ankara has softened its stand on Kashmir.
In Pakistan’s corridors of power there seems to be dissent and displeasure over Turkey’s lack of enthusiasm on Kashmir and uneasiness over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s declining fervour.
Erdogan referred to the Kashmir issue in his last three speeches at the UN General Assembly on three separate consecutive occasions indicating that perhaps the issue is important to him.
His euphemisms seem to be softening and he went as far as to club Kashmir with the Uyghurs and the Rohingyas as one of the myriad problems that affect the Islamic world.
Meanwhile, Kashmir is an existentialist problem for Pakistan. They are watching closely to determine if Turkey’s fervour has indeed diminished.
As per Insideover, an Italian website, there are small signs in the landscape like Erdogan’s failure to, mention Kashmir at a state Function hosting the Pakistani president or the absence of a condolence message on the death of Pakistani separatist, and Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Moreover, there are sections in the Pakistani establishment that is cautious and reluctant to overreact to Turkey’s recent toning down on Kashmir taking into consideration Turkey’s other recent attempts to improve relations with almost every country it had earlier antagonised, including Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Also, recently Turkey was added to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list for failing to check terror financing.
Turkey cannot afford to ignore it in such a situation. Turkey’s newfound moderation on Kashmir should be perhaps strictly taken in the larger context of its attempts to repair ties with other countries as well as to bring itself out of FATF grey lists amid its fragile economy that recorded heavy losses against the US dollar as it will curtail its power to raise international investment.
Whatever the reason, interestingly there appears to be a near-unanimous opinion within the Pakistani establishment that Turkey’s tone has indeed softened on Kashmir.
While some have advised caution, others have expressed disappointment over a core concern of Islamabad being handled so callously by a country they considered a “true friend”.
