Yes! We were never an independent superpower. but we were part of the mughol empire which was a super power at its peak. And overall mughal GDP were heigher then ottoman gdp. And the small bengla province were accounted for nearly half of entire subcontinent gdp which was at that time 25 of the whole world gdp.Thats true I always say Muslims should always look at their past glory and try to move onto to the future.
Im proud of both Islamic and Turkic history.
Bangladesh is a country with lots of potential it just has to be used right. I know Bangladesh will never a superpower but it can be a neutral country like switzerland with a strong economy, political and military.
Bangladesh is a doing a good job in maintaining relations with everybody and in its region.
Now in term of foreign policy, the bilateral relationship between bangladesh and turkey is can go back to several century. Way before even the turkish Republic and the modern bangladesh were born. I don't think many turkish people or for that matter bangladeshis are well aware of that.
The cultural ties is much deeper than anyone may anticipate. In fact muslim bangla identity was born when a great turkic conqueror named 'Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji' conquered the region. his conquest was the beginning of the islamic rule in the region.
and later, The ruling dynasty of Nawabs_of_Bengal_and_Murshidbad was also turkic origins.
But I think the most astonishing fact is, during 17th century bangladesh was the prominent supplier of warship fleets for the ottoman navy.
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Shipbuilding_Industry
you see we were a tiny country in corner of subcontintent and yet we were miles ahead of entire north America in shipbuilding. both quality and quantity.
Recently, Bangladesh navy published a requirement for two new submarine. If STM can offer its TS1700 submarine and a deal can be signed in the near future it would a notable foreign policy achievement for both countries. ( Maybe one built in turkey and another one in Bangladesh ) also, I class frigate can be front runner for bangladesh next gen frigates program. These things sometimes require some lobbying. but Unfortunately, high level visit is not frequent between bangladesh and turkey. For example, president erdogan visited pakistan four times when he came to bangladesh only one time. Despite the fact turkish- bangladeshi trade volume is higher than pakistan.
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