MOD NOTE: ORIGINALLY POSTED IN TR foreign policy thread: https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-foreign-policy-geopolitics.3951/page-88#post-209244
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UNTERSTANDING TURKISH LONG TERM FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY IN EAST ASIA AND SOME OTHER THOUGHTS.
The malesyian king's visit in turkey recently as well as the malesyian prime minister's visit with high level military and civilian delegation earlier this year, it can be interpreted as a primary steps for the beginning of a long term strategic relationship between two countries in term geopolitical and geoeconomic security cooperation based maximum mutual trust and benefits. Later, in coming decades it has the potential of leading to further strategic cooperation in defence and military technology. And hopefully the similer steps will be taken with Indonesia and Bangladesh soon.
However, there are two other big regional actors with whom turkish foreign policy is quite complicated and not so obvious for many, how should the future strategy look like with india and pakistan. Now, it is clear pakistan cannot offer any economic benefits in near future. While on the other hand it is possible to have relatively larger trade volume with india.
But at the same time turkish unconditional support for pakistan regime on every position may complicate the relation with india. So the best way for turkey is seems to be able follow a delicate balancing path between two countries and not get involved with every regional issues in support of pakistan ( except turkish position on kashmir and india's oppression of its muslim minority should be clear ) and have a good trade relationship with india while not compromising the strategic security relationship with pakistan ( I wrote about it in some details in TFX thread page 194 why it is important for turkey ).
And as the recent conflict between russia and ukraine shows turkey has the ability to do so ( following a balancing act. )
Now, BORCHADINHO! As i said in 'refugee problem thread page 34' I will reflect on your comment on my post here.
1. Bangladesh shouldn't be considered in the same category with india. ( the socio-cultural landscape is simply different ) My assessment is, seeking more stronger ties with india ( on a greater level then I suggested above here ) is 'probably a reactionary thinking' from being disgusted by Pakistanis. From a rational Point of view, this is simply not possible to have strategic cooperation with india on any level because of not only the cultural difference,but the tremendous civilizational different between turkey and india. However, a large trade volume is achievable like china and usa has. but they don't have any strategic cooperation becouse they are simply two different civilization. The same is true with turkey and india.
But most importantly, I don't think turkey is in need to establish a strategic economic security relationship with india. Take For example, the two most fundemental economic securities are food and energy security. ( as ukraine war showed us how crucial to gain self reliance in both or at least diversify the sources in a strategic manner. ) Now in case of food security turkey is self reliant. In case of energy security india simply doesn't have any credible energy resources to offer. Ohter than that, in term of heavy industry, automobile, electronics and defence sector turkey simply doesn't want to depend on anybody for that matter and seek to be 100 percent self-reliant ( which, every developing nation should do )
Now, it is true as you said, indians largely speaking, doesn't export their problems to other countries as most of the Indian that lives aboard are highly educated and civilized, however they may not reflect the reality of the vast mejority who are in india. I suggesting some detailed reading in the indian history for the last 70 years in order to fully understand the treatment of its minority and its political framework for the oppression and massacre.
Without going too much into detail let's take the recent example, the Gujarat massacre of nearly two thousand muslim in 2002. ( of course, they wanna protray it as it was just a riot. But in riots people don't die by thousands ) and the guy was largely behind it is mr. Norendro modi ( infamously called 'the butcher of gujarat' ) who is now the current prime minister of india, nominated by BJP party. Now, the BJP is basically the political wing of the world largest fascist organization 'RSS'.
Sorry that i can't introduce them properly here, becouse for that at least thousands more word will be needed! However, in a nutshell, they literally believe in nazi ideology of aryaan race. And their cannon book the 'bunch of thought' (sound very innocent i know ) however, it identify the 'muslim population in genarel' ( not the terrorist or radicals ) as number one internal threat to india which mast be eliminated. consistently they radicalize hindu youth against the minorities and publicaly train them with lethal weapons. There are hidue religious leaders who are openly calls for mass killing of muslims. This incidents has been reported many times now. But i guess no one has to take my word for it. The reader can research for himself. ( however, it should be clear, I am not claiming, we don't have any kind of minority opresstion in Bangladesh. Surely! we do have problems! But these are simply not comparable to india. We have ten million hindu in Bangladesh. however, no one in my country trains youth with lethal weapons openly to fight against a 'perceived enemy.' No one with authority calling for mass killing of hindues! But most importantly There hasn't been any attempted massacre against hidus in 50 years. on the contrary, there are some major massacres of muslims took place in india in multiple region since the country was born. )
If anyone do some research on the the hate speech percentage in india these days, it is not that hard to find out how the situation is there right now! Or how many muslims got killed by hindu terrorists just for eating meets every year. ( and they weren't always even sure if it was cow's meet. ) In addition to that, i would suggest, you may also check out the video of dr. gregory stanton of GENOCIDEWATCH and his research on india recently. Now, in the cultural front you already know that pakistan has serious problem of honor killing! Things like that, what makes very hard to have a people to people cultural relationship between turkey and pakistan!
However, very few people knows india has it own honor killing problems. Which of course caused by tribalism. However unlike pakistan there is a major social norm in india that has significantly serious effect on every part of the society till this day. Which is the infamous classification of the 'FOUR CASTE' in indian society! ( it is very important to note that, this is not a socio economical classification which every society has. It is very unique DEEPLY RELIGIOUS and SOCIO-CULTURAL classification )
A lot of social behaviors is determined by it. Without going too much into that 'CLASSIFICATION' let's just say, even the most racist white supremacist person in the west will be stunned if they learned about how so called 'DALIT' caste is treated in india! The word itself mean 'untouchable'. And unfortunately, this is not a metaphor! It is literally means you cannot touch them or sit with them! India has one of the highest rape problem in the world. And this is partially becouse some fraction of the indian society tend to think that, so called 'Dalit women is 'available' for evrybody.
There was a famous case in 2020 where police itself burn the rape victim's body because they thought if the incident become public the superior class boys who rape the teen and killed her will be disrespected as these boys 'touched' a 'DALIT'. OVER ALL, LARGELY SPEAKING, INDIA ISN'T't CULTURALLY TOO DEVELOPED WHEN COMPARED TO THE PAKISTAN. AND FOR MINORITIES IT IS LITERALLY WORST!
2. You wrote, it is not turkish tax payers job to educate pakistanis! I am afraid this is a short sighted comment ( don't take it personally. ) first and foremost, I didn't say that. What I said is 'the only realistic way to help that Country for other developed muslims countries is to take a 'long term combined strategy ( this is very important becouse one country like turkey can't do it along ) and stablish as many schools and colleges as possible in pakistan and try to make an educational revolution for the next generations to come!'
It seems you don't know the strategic significant of investing in other country's public insfrastructure and institutions! It is a win win business in a long run! This is not a one way aid! Why do you think china is investing hundreds of billions dollars in africa and building schools, hospitals and roads? Damm! Why do think turkey itself investing in african countries ?
3. You said 'turkey was founded in a desperate time'. Surely it was, and the same is true with bangladesh. However, It doesn't seem very logical to me, to hold on that old desperate mindset from a century ago ( I am not accusing you of that, however I sense it from some people ) as you said in your post rightfully and as I said earlier, turkish identity should be based on turkish culture and turkish way of life not on race or color of skin. (So, of course turkish (or for that matter any other) national identity should not be 'sold' for cheap purpose nor should it be given to people who don't appreciate the turkish culture and don't embrace the turkish way of life. )
4. You wrote 'our cultures ( Bangladeshi and turkish ) couldn't be more different'. I don't think this is a very accurate discritption! ( If you mean, our food and clothing then it is largely true ) I am surprised that, you don't know the history of the famous turkic-afghan conqueror Muhammad bakhteyar khalgi! He conquered the bengal in 13th century.
It was how the first islamic rule began in our region and our identity was formed. More or less He was kinda for us like what uthman was for turkic tribes ( legend says, he defeated the ruling king with only 16 companions ) and later The ruling class of muslim bengal the 'NAWAB' was also of turkic origin. Actually, I am myself of turkic origin! And There is a lot of turkish words in bangla too! The most funny one is, if you say 'turki youth' in bengla it literally means ' a brave man' like a compliment (doesn't mean an actual turkish young person).
here are few references below.
Malaysia our top trade partner in ASEAN region of 650M people, says Foreign Minister Cavusoglu - Anadolu Agency
www.aa.com.tr
Bilateral ties advanced from level of strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership, says Turkish president - Anadolu Agency
www.aa.com.tr
Ankara and Kuala Lumpur, a significant regional partner, vowed to continue cooperating to counter several challenges, including Islamophobia, the...
www.dailysabah.com
Turkish president expected to visit Indonesia in early 2020, says Indonesia’s trade minister - Anadolu Agency
www.aa.com.tr
With 350 million population in both countries, trade volume is far below true potential, says Turkish foreign minister - Anadolu Agency
www.aa.com.tr
https://www.dailysabah.com/business...trengthen-aerospace-cooperation-with-new-deal
Textile Today team visited Türkiysh embassy in Dhaka on 1 June morning and had a conversation with H.E. Mustafa Osman Turan.
www.textiletoday.com.bd
Both Turkey and Bangladesh will benefit economically and militarily from expansion in defense cooperation, according to analysts.Turkey is becoming a...
www.dailysabah.com
A local myth suggests that German women traveled to India to be impregnated by the Aryan 'seed'.
indianexpress.com
White supremacy and Hindu nationalism have common roots going back to the 19th-century idea of the ‘Aryan race’.
www.aljazeera.com
Presently, the Indian defence paraphernalia is ranked as the fourth mightiest army in the world after USA, Russia and China with Japan at the (...)
mainstreamweekly.net
Swords and knives can’t be regarded as weapons, says BJP
www.thehindu.com
Hindu leaders attended a highly controversial religious conclave in northern India where they encouraged the mass murder of Muslims as a way to invoke an absolute form of spiritualism.
www.sbs.com.au
Hindu leaders attended a highly controversial religious conclave in northern India where they encouraged the mass murder of Muslims as a way to invoke an absolute form of spiritualism.
www.sbs.com.au
Honour killing: Killing for protecting so-called” izzat” “Hamare Ghar ki Izzat”, I think this phrase is sufficient to explain the root cause of this heinous crime. Honour killing is defined...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
en.wikipedia.org
The future of the untouchables’ struggle lies in international solidarity and collective work.
www.aljazeera.com
A recent report notes that access to justice is limited for Dalit women, especially in rural areas.
www.aljazeera.com
Some 160 million people in India live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society because of their rank as "untouchables" or Dalits—literally meaning "broken" people—at the bottom of India's caste system.
www.hrw.org
India News: Crimes and atrocities against dalits in Haryana have gone up by about two-and-a-half times during 2004-2013, compared to 1994-2003 period.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
As ties recently increased, Turkish institutions, NGOs have been leading education, development on continent - Anadolu Agency
www.aa.com.tr
The face and the fate of African continent in the 21st century is changing fast and its network of foreign relations is becoming more complex as new actors are interacting with African countries.
studies.aljazeera.net
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Last edited: 5 minutes ago
www.theguardian.com
