5 reasons why Erdogan could change his tone on India Firstpost

Since 2019, Recep Tayyip Erdogan narrowly failed to raise the Kashmir issue during his annual speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It has somehow become a tradition for the Turkish president to speak more about the Indian region after the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the abrogated Article 370, removing the special status that J&K had.

This year again, Erdogan addressed the UNGA, he was one of the leaders whose speech was expected. The Turkish president did speak at the UN, but this time it was surprisingly unusual: there was no mention of Kashmir.

The mention of Kashmir in Erdogan's speech at the UNGA, in one form or another, since 2019 has become common in recent years.

In 2023, he called for a “just and lasting peace” in Kashmir through cooperation and dialogue between India and Pakistan.

The Turkish leader echoed similar sentiments in 2022 and even regretted that “a strong peace and cooperation between India and Pakistan has still not been established, despite 75 years after their independence.”

A year before, in 2021, Erdogan had called for the “resolution” of Kashmir through UN resolutions, something he had said in 2020 as well as in 2019.

In fact, in 2019, the Turkish president was most vocal when he declared that the Kashmir conflict “must be resolved through dialogue on the basis of justice and fairness, rather than conflict “.

Erdogan even once declared, outside the UN, that India has now become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By whom? Hindus.

During a joint session of the Pakistani Parliament on February 14, 2020, the Turkish President had said: “We have never forgotten and will never forget the help that the people of Pakistan gave us by sharing their own bread during our war of independence. And now Kashmir is and will be the same for us. It was Canakkale yesterday, and it is Kashmir today, [there is] no difference.

Erdogan's remarks have often been seen as unwarranted interference in India's internal affairs, something New Delhi has always strongly rejected.

India reminded Turkey that unlike Ankara, which invaded and occupied part of the sovereign nation of Cyprus in 1974, New Delhi has not taken similar steps regarding Kashmir.

But if not Kashmir, what was the central issue in Erdogan's speech to the UN General Assembly in 2024?

His speech focused on the conflicts in Syria and the Gaza Strip. The Turkish leader also used the platform to continue his criticism of Israel and his advocacy for the Palestinian cause.

Erdogan even criticized the UN for transforming the Palestinian territory into “the largest cemetery in the world”.

But is Erdogan changing his tone towards India?

It seems so, and there may be several reasons for this. Here's a quick look at the reasons XXX

1 – BRICS factor

Erdogan's omission of Kashmir in his UNGA speech comes as Turkey seeks to join the BRICS bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In his speech at the 79th session of the UNGA in New York, Erdogan said: “We maintain our commitment to developing our relations with the BRICS, which bring together emerging economies.”

If Turkey joins BRICS, it would be the first member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be part of the bloc.

Turkey enjoys support from Russia and China for entry into BRICS, but this can only be done with consensus.

2 – Turkey wants to become a full member of the SCO

Turkey also aims to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and not just as an observer.

Turkey's anti-India stance could also be affected as India is also one of the nine permanent members of the SCO.

3 – Tourism and Indian businesses

In Türkiye, Indians are the third largest Asian tourists after China and Indonesia.

Ankara has also witnessed a gradual expansion of Indian businesses.

Also read:
Erdogan changes tone and doesn't mention Kashmir at UN for first time in years

4 – Relations with friendly nations of India

Turkey has made efforts with countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and, incidentally, India shares excellent relations with all these countries.

Turkey seems to have recognized this, as it appears to be making efforts to strengthen its relations with India.

5 – Turkey’s disenchantment with Pakistan

Turkey's growing dissatisfaction with Pakistan is becoming increasingly evident, mainly due to the growing number of illegal Pakistani immigrants.

This influx has become a significant point of friction in relations between Ankara and Islamabad. Reports indicate that many of these immigrants do not respect Turkish culture, especially when it comes to women.

Additionally, intelligence findings suggest that illegal Pakistani immigrants have been involved in serious criminal activities, including gang violence, human and drug trafficking, and kidnapping tourists for ransom in Turkey .

Turkey paid for Erdogan's comments on Kashmir

In October 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceled his planned visit to Türkiye.

Additionally, a lucrative $2.3 billion naval deal between India and the Turkish defense company was terminated. Additionally, New Delhi has also reduced its other defense exports to Turkey, including dual-use weapons like explosives and detonators.

India has also cut imports from Turkey and struck a defense deal with Armenia, Turkey's traditional rival in the region.

With the contribution of agencies.