Why do Turks Like Pakistan?
by Prof. Dr.
Sedat Laciner
(Dr. Sedat was
General Coordinator of leading Turkish think-tank USAK and now working as
Rector of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversity)
Many statesmen believe in that the states have no friends, but
interests. That’s why the number of states which have ‘special relations’ is
few. US-UK relations or US-Israel relations are exceptional. Even in these
examples we see that the national interests are more important than the emotional
dimension. In this framework Turkish-Pakistani relations have always been
special. In spite of the geographical distance and the clear economic and
social differences between two countries, Turks have always loved the
Pakistanis. Although the Pakistanis are not Turkish origin people, they have
always been called ‘brothers’ in Turkey. Brotherhood between these
two countries was something emerged before the family ties between the Turkish Republics
and Turkey
to be bounded. Like many Turkish people I did not question Pakistan’s friendship, yet one of the answers I
was trying to find prior to my 8 day-trip to Pakistan was the reasons of this
profound sympathy. On the Pakistan
way, may be first time in my life I wondered why do Turks like Pakistan? I
thought whether the Turkish-Pakistani love is delusion or not.
I will share my Pakistan
notes in the near future, but in this essay I would rather try to understand
the main roots of our Pakistan
sympathy:
The things I saw in my 2000 km journey, including 5 cities
from Karachi-southern coast- to Burban-the very north of Pakistan-, was totally devastating
for me and the other members of the Turkish delegation. It is clear that Pakistan has
been passing through difficult times in terms of politics, security and
economics. My soul and heart were hurt by the level of difficulties these
beautiful people face. Besides all that tragedy, I and other members of the
Turkish delegation found out something that every visitor to Pakistan experience: Pakistan
is certainly the country that likes Turkey the most in this world.
In one of the meetings the USAK in Ankara, the Pakistani
Ambassador Seyid Iftikhar Hüseyin Shah had answered very positively all our
questions and declared Pakistan’s support for any political problem Turkey
faces: For example when we talked about Cyprus issue, terror or any other
important topics, all of which he replied: “Pakistan would support you”. An
ambassador’s response this fast and impulsive was quite shocking for USAK
researchers if it was not suspicious. After seeing the shocked expressions in
our faces, Ambassador Shah smiled and looked into our eyes saying “Pakistan would always support Turkey, because your country is Turkey, and you
are Turkish.” We simply understand that Turkey
has Pakistan’s
political support in any issue with no hesitation. Such support and ties were
naturally unexpected for Anglo-Saxon type educated people like us and it was a
surprise for us when we are talking about a so ‘alone country’ in Europe, Turkey. What is
more impressive was that we heard the same replies throughout Islamabad,
Karachi and
Lahor. All Pakistanis told us that “Pakistan
would always support Turkey
just because you are Turkey,
and you are Turkish”
The first thing I
discovered while I was questioning the reasons of this exceptional “chum” relationship
was how lonely Pakistan
was. Being stuck between India,
Iran, Afghanistan and China,
Pakistan
suffers a great loneliness. All of Pakistan’s
neighbors are either too problematic, like Afghanistan, or too distant from
adopting a close relationship on equal terms with the country. Take India for
example, after the British left, it started drawing a profile of “Big Brother”
of the region. Iran, where
there are still strong signs of a pursuit for the Persian
Empire (or expansion of the Islamist regime?), is no different. On
the contrary, Iran’s
‘intolerable’ conceit and desire for ideological propagation, makes it almost
impossible to create a strong relationship. Afghanistan,
probably the most similar country to Pakistan in terms of geography and
demography, is now like a fireball and is ready to porch. Inside all the
neighbors of Pakistan, the
most loved one is certainly China.
Because of its support to Pakistan
in their relations with India,
Chinese relations are special for Pakistanis. The “real China” is, however,
is the very east of the country. Besides, it is fairly hard to imagine a
Chinese – Pakistani closeness, compared to a one with Turkey. Moreover
the relations with the West is also problematic. Although Islamabad Government
has always been very helpful for the Western policies against terrorism, Pakistan cannot
find a similar support and empathy in the West.
Turkey is
certainly the most similar country to Pakistan in the world with its
‘special loneliness’. Although it is at the heart of the global issues and has
quite strong ties with the East and the West, Turkey is not part of any world in
reality. It is sui generis and Turkish people still feel aloneness in the West
and in the region like Pakistan.
It can be said that this shared aloneness is one of the factors in Turkish –
Pakistani friendship. Turks can understand the Pakistanis before the double
standards of the great powers.
Besides their common loneliness, the historical caliphate is
believed to be another reason of the Turkish sympathy in Pakistan. The Ottoman sultans were
considered the head of the all Muslims in many countries. Thanks to the
Abdulhamid II’s efforts the influence of the Turkish caliphates’ increased
dramatically in the Indian subcontinent. The Turks were considered as a
balancing power against the occupying British in India. Therefore Indian Muslims
felt themselves very close, even engaged, to the Anatolian Muslim Turks. More
strangely, not only the Muslims, but also all other oppressed societies in India felt themselves close to the Ottoman Empire in these years. Including Gandhi, the
Indians were all saddened by the declaration of secular Turkish Republic
and the cassation of the caliphate chair. They were not against secularism but
the evaporation of the Caliphate as they saw the Caliphate as an influential
tool against imperialism in India.
Despite their sadness, both Hindus and Muslim Indians respected Turkish
people’s decision, continued to see citizens of the Modern Turkish
Republic as the sons of
the Ottomans.
Another factor of the sympathy was unfortunately the turmoil
both Turkey and Pakistan
experienced, particularly the military coups. The 12 September 1980 Coup’s
General President Kenan Evren for instance was not welcomed at all in the
Western European countries. He could only visit or more accurately only
welcomed by Bulgaria, Romania, soma Arab countries and Pakistan. The
same thing was, of course, true for Pakistan. Turkish officials have
always welcomed Pakistanis no matter what their political conditions were.
Turkey’s
strong support for Pakistan
in the Kashmir case has also been a major
contributor to the relationship. In spite of the problems with India, Turkey
kept to its support and said: “… just because you are Pakistan.”
Although it is a debatable issue, another important point
that needs to be mentioned here is the ethnic roots of Pakistan
community. The country is clearly affected by the neighboring countries it
stuck between. Fingerprints can be seen in its language, religion, culture and
in many other areas. Its foods and music are, along with a lot other
characteristics, is a synthesis. However, the Turkish signs can only be seen
when looked closer. Even physical similarities can be observed. Turkish clans
entering the inside of the Indian subcontinent have affected the region so
deeply that its fingerprints inherited to the Pakistan of today. In other words, our
ties with Pakistanis are not just mental, but we might also, with the help of
modern science, observe different aspects of the ties by looking at the genes
of our Pakistani brothers. Such a fact would certainly be shocking, but not
very unexpected.
More recently, Turkey’s
immediate help to Pakistan
in the earthquake disaster was definitely the most major contributor to the relationship
between the countries. All Pakistanis, from government officials to ordinary
people, are very grateful for their brother country’s aids. They said that Turkey was
there with both volunteers and officials helping them rescuing their people in
a disaster which 75.000 people died. Moreover, they told us that Turks also did
not leave immediately, but helped rebuilding the devastated country. They were
so impressed from this immense help that Imam Abdullah said in a speech he made
in Eidgahah Mosque: “Pakistan
is Turkey and Turkey is Pakistan.”
Another recent contribution of the disaster to Turkish-Pakistani
relationship is the fact that Turkish Premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the
first leader to visit the country after the great disaster. Showing one more
time the importance of timing in diplomacy, that his visit and speech impressed
Pakistanis as much as Turkish aids did. Even though he may be aware of the
consequences of his visit, Mr. Erdogan certainly did something very important
for closeness between Pakistan
and Turkey.
The last visit to Pakistan made by Turkish President
Abdullah Gul was also important in this context. His visit after the
devastating assassination of Benazir Bhutto, which is an incident that almost
put the country into a chaos, proved Turkey’s support to the country one
more time. The message President Gul gave by meeting with all leaders in the
country was clear: “Pakistani leaders should stop fighting each other and
maintain peace and unity in the country.” Thanks to the efforts of Turkish
ambassador Engin Soysal and his team, Turkey has continued to play a
special role in bridging the opposing Pakistani groups. It is clear that almost
all Pakistani political parties trust on the Turks. That’s why Turkish
diplomats or politicians can organize in a very limited time so many sensitive
meetings which affect Pakistani political life.
As a conclusion, it seems that Turks have enough reasons to
see Pakistan
as a brother country. Besides, the heating environment of the “Great Middle
East” also brings countries like Turkey
and Pakistan, and other
countries affected by the United
States policies in the region. The wrong
policies of the White House force the regional powers to make more co-cooperation
and Turkish-Pakistani relations is no exception.
I will continue writing on our Pakistan experiences. However, for
now, I will stop here by telling people who do not believe in Turkey-Pakistan
closeness that: We the Turks love Pakistanis because they are Pakistani.
slaciner@gmail.com
Translated by Nilgun Gulcan and Kerem Kilic (JTW)
Courtesy: Journal of Turkish Weekly, USAK
Orignally published 16 July 2008
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