New Delhi: Turkey and Pakistan pledged several joint ventures and enhanced bilateral investment, including in key sectors like renewable energy, information technology, defence production, infrastructure development and agriculture, before Shehbaz Sharif left Istanbul for Tehran, earlier on Monday.
The Pakistani Prime Minister had arrived in the country on Sunday as he kicked off his four-nation tour that also included visits to Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.
As Ankara openly expressed solidarity with Islamabad in the military standoff with India earlier this month, Sharif met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the second time in one month. The two leaders had last met on April 22, the day when the barbaric Pahalgam attack took place, resulting in the death of 26 innocent civilians. Erdogan had also paid a State Visit to Pakistan in February 2025.
Erdogan reportedly told Sharif it was in the interest of Turkey and Pakistan to increase solidarity in education, intelligence sharing and technological support in the fight against “terrorism”. Sharif, during his meeting with Erdogan, was also accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Analysts reckon that the meeting between the two leaders only strengthened their anti-India stand as Ankara has become the second largest arms supplier to Islamabad.
Pakistan had earlier this month targetted Indian civilian, military and religious sites by using Turkey’s Asisguard Songar drones that were neutralised by India’s strong air defences.
Earlier, six Turkish C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, possibly carrying an arms shipment, landed at Karachi airport on April 27 and on May 2 while a Turkish warship, TCG Buyukada (F-512), the second ship of the Ada-class ASW corvettes of the Turkish Navy, also docked at Karachi.
Turkey’s military support to Pakistan not only reveals the true nature of their partnership, but also their transnational alliance against India.
Turkey under Erdogan is also trying to position itself as a Muslim world leader, using Islamic identity to counter Western influence, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pakistan has often aligned with Turkey’s narratives, including on Islamophobia, to resonate with global Muslim population.
Ankara supports Islamabad in several ways: endorsing its stance on Kashmir, pushing anti-India narratives and using diplomatic channels and state tools, including its media, to fuel global boycott campaigns against India.
Turkish news outlets continue to amplify fake news after every Pakistan-backed terror attack on India, from Uri to Pulwama and now Pahalgam. They were also quick to echo Pakistan’s narrative after India revoked Articles 370.
Both countries together also weaponised the OIC to amplify anti-India narratives in 2020 citing CAA/NRC and Kashmir to push claims of ‘Islamophobia.’
“Raising the Kashmir issue in collaboration with Pakistan’s ISI benefits a desperate Erdogan who wants to become the undisputed ‘Caliph’ of the Muslim Ummah and even achieve its main aim of getting hold of the nuclear weapon technology. The Turkish support to Pakistan’s campaign against India on Kashmir also enhances Erdogan’s position amongst the Pakistani Punjabi Muslims, the population he is banking on to claim the leadership of the Islamic world,” said a top official.
He revealed that Turkey-backed transnational institutions are working 24×7 to destroy the integrity and secular fabric of Indian polity. The Diyanet or DIB, Turkey’s powerful Presidency of Religious Affairs, has witnessed exponential growth in both influence and budget.
At the same time, Islamist foundations linked to Erdogan have been spreading fake narrative, targetting youth with propaganda in a tone reminiscent of jihadist rhetoric.
The International University of Sarajevo (IUS), founded by Foundation for Education Development Sarajevo (SEDEF) in 2003, is led by Sevgi Kurtulmus, wife of Numan Kurtulmus, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and currently the 30th Speaker of Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
The Turkey Youth Foundation (TUGVA), a government-funded organisation, has been at the forefront of this propagandistic campaign. Its Chairman, Ibrahim Beşinci, is frequently included in the state delegations on President Erdogan’s official overseas visits.
“India had aided Turkey in its darkest hour with relief and rescue ‘Operation Dost’ in February 2023 but Turkey continues to support Pakistan, a terror-exporting state, by supplying arms aimed at India. More dangerously, Erdogan’s dangerous ambitions could destabilise regions globally,” reckons another expert.
No doubt, Pakistan, a serial sponsor of terror activities, is finding a safe and warm home in Ankara.
(The writer is an expert on South Asia and Eurasia. He was formerly with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views expressed are personal)
–IANS
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