Latest news with #MustafaKemalAtaturk
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Turkey's caliphate delusions and India's security concerns
Turkey, once embodying Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's secular, modern vision, now stumbles under the iron-fisted whims of a man chasing the ghosts of the past. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has gone from reformer to radical, from statesman to strongman. His current avatar? A self-styled Caliph of the 21st century, broadcasting delusions of grandeur across the Muslim world. Let us not sugar-coat it, this is not religious revivalism. It is a well-rehearsed, high-budget cosplay of the Ottoman Empire, starring Erdoğan as the lone ranger of the Ummah. His bromance with Pakistan and hostility toward India are not products of ideology but ambition. He treats it as an Influence Olympics and he is doing whatever it takes to win gold. Cloaked in nostalgia and supercharged by social media, Erdoğan's neo-Ottoman propaganda seeks to radicalise young minds from Kashmir to Kerala. His tactics are straight from the dictator's playbook — mask authoritarianism with messianic rhetoric, fund proxies, push propaganda, and exploit identity fault lines. And India, one of the most diverse nations and an exemplar of pluralism, must level up. His drones fly across the Line of Control (LoC), but they carry more than narcotics or arms, they carry messages. Messages that say, 'We're watching, we're coming, and we have got technology too.' The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from across the LoC are manufactured in Turkey and rebranded in Pakistan, similar to Chinese missiles with Pakistani names. Same chips, new lies. It's like watching bootleg missiles in a bad spy movie, except this is real. Whether we like it or not, Turkey has built a formidable drone warfare industry, punching far above its weight. Its UAVs have altered battlefields in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and reshaped dynamics in multiple wars across the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region. India needs to stop playing nice and start playing smart. Equip Turkey's adversaries, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Saudi Arabia, with indigenous drone tech, cyber-defence systems and engage them in sharper diplomacy. Give Erdoğan a reality check: India does not just vibe, it retaliates. And while Erdoğan plays Sultan on TikTok, real States such as the UAE, backed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt are pushing back — with dignity, not delusional dreams. West Asia is not falling for his bait, and neither should India. These nations are not just challenging his economic model but his ideological export factory. The time has come for a coalition of civilisations, a bloc to counter the radicalism of the Turkey-Pakistan duet. Their CVs are written in blood: Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Kashmiris, and Bengalis. Their history of genocidal experiences is no footnote. India must stop doom-scrolling while Erdoğan's bots work overtime. The Turkish dissident Gülenist movement – led by Fethullah Gülen and termed by the Erdoğan administration as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) — has been crushed inside Turkey, but is alive globally. This offers India a diplomatic opportunity. It should offer asylum and give them platforms. Make India the new Istanbul for liberal Turkish exiles. We did not ask for this ideological war, but we cannot afford to lose it. Meanwhile, the Turkish India-bashing machinery and its infrastructure is vast and well-funded. Over the years, State-backed Turkish media agencies such as the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and Anadolu Agency (AA), along with countless non-profits and academic institutions, have been hiring ISI proxies from Pakistan as well as Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, Turkish NGOs such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Diyanet Foundation and the Turkey Youth Foundation (TUGVA) are running as religious start-ups and trying to dent India's sovereignty. Funded by Ankara and cloaked in cultural exchange, they run recruitment drives without even informing Indian missions. Students lured through flashy scholarships are groomed into soft agents of radicalism. It constitutes academic gaslighting at its finest. Let us set the record straight: Any Indian or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder who supports Turkey's radical designs or acts against Indian interests should be stripped of status and access. National identity is not a prop. It is a privilege. Erdoğan is also using entertainment as his weapon of choice. Turkish serials like Ertugrul and Barbaroslar are Caliphate-core propaganda. These shows are not just binge-worthy, they have brainwash potential. The Kashmir Valley is saturated with clips romanticising religious conquest and resistance — Instagram reels today, ideological grenades tomorrow. The Imam Hatip schools, funded directly by Erdoğan, act as radical production houses, manufacturing the next generation of zealots, influencers and apologists. Not to forget the IHH, masquerading as a humanitarian NGO, while running parallel political missions in Kashmir and beyond. Erdoğan is a person of binaries, dichotomies and paradoxes. And while advertising itself as a modern Islamic power committed to dialogue with much fanfare, Turkey's State machinery under Erdoğan simultaneously funds radical voices, fugitives and known extremists in hiding. This duplicity must be exposed. Erdoğan is not a political phoenix but a paranoid populist. Aging, erratic, and increasingly isolated, he knows his time is short. That is why he is sprinting toward the mirage of Ummah leadership with one foot in delusion and the other in desperation. India must wake up, show up and scale up. Use media, diplomacy and diaspora networks. Let Erdoğan's own people turn the tide. We don't need missiles to counter every menace: Ideas are mightier than drones. This is not just an external threat. We can no longer afford to treat Turkey's antics as distant drama. This is not fiction. It is Erdoğan's audition for Caliph, and India must ensure he never makes the cut. Abhishek Singhvi is a senior four-term sitting MP, member, Congress Working Committee, and national spokesperson, Congress. Akash Kumar Singh is a doctoral scholar at the Special Centre for National Security Studies, JNU, and a former LAMP fellow. The views expressed are personal. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Princess Royal hails Turkish friends and presses importance of remembrance
The Princess Royal has hailed Turkish friends and emphasised the importance of passing on the tradition of remembering those who have fallen in war. Anne was speaking at a service to mark the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign at Turkey's Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial. She made her address on the peninsula where soldiers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France and Turkey died in the 1915 clash. The Princess Royal later delivered a message from the King, who attended services for the 90th and 100th anniversaries, and extended his 'special thoughts and prayers', and described solace for the 'dreadful losses' in the 'warm friendships and deep alliances that have emerged from the desperation of Gallipoli'. A wreath was laid for Anne at the memorial, and she went on to lay the traditional red carnations at the graves of the Turkish soldiers. She said it was a 'great and solemn honour' to attend the service, remembering the sacrifice on all sides of the 'unforgiving campaign'. The Princess Royal went on to reference a quote by Turkish hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, saying: 'There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. 'You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this island, they have become our sons as well.' Anne described words such as these as having 'paved the way for ferocious battles that took place on this land to be replaced by long-lasting friendships and strong alliances that we must take forward to the future'. She added: 'I pay a heartfelt tribute to all the nations represented here today. 'On behalf of the former Entente Powers, I salute the memory of Gallipoli and our future together.' Anne also attended a commemoration at the French National Cemetery in Gallipoli before visiting the grave of a British war hero. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie was decorated with a Victoria Cross for his service during the Gallipoli campaign. She went on to attend the Commemoration of the UK, Commonwealth and Ireland. More than 100,000 troops died in an ill-fated campaign during the First World War by the UK and allies to capture the Dardanelles Strait in what is now north-west Turkey. The assault in 1915 was intended to wound the then Ottoman Empire and cut off a key connecting water route between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, a move which would have also aided Russia. On Friday, Anne is expected to attend a dawn service to mark the 110th anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on the beaches of Gallipoli. April 25 is known as Anzac Day and is marked across the two southern hemisphere countries. Many from Australia and New Zealand have also travelled to Turkey for the anniversary.
Jordan Times
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Demonstrations continue in Turkey despite protest bans
A Turkish flag with a picture of Turkish modern state's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is seen during a rally near Istanbul's city hall, on March 24, 2025 (AFP photo) ISTANBUL — Protesters continued taking to streets in Turkey's big cities as they marked a week since the start of street demonstrations after the arrest of Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as part of a graft and "terror" probe. Vast crowds have hit the street daily despite protest bans in Istanbul and other big cities and the arrests with 1,418 people held up to Tuesday according to official figures. Those detained include AFP journalist Yasin Akgul, who the Paris-based agency says was doing his job covering the protests. Republican People's (CHP) party leader Ozgur Ozel urged people to attend a mega rally on Saturday in the Istanbul district of Maltepe to demand early elections. Addressing the vast crowds gathered for a seventh straight night at Istanbul City Hall, Ozel said the crackdown would only strengthen the protest movement. Erdogan himself took aim at Ozel in a speech to his party, dismissing the CHP leader as "a politically bankrupt figure whose ambitions and fears have taken his mind captive". The CHP, he said, had created "too much material even for Brazilian soap operas" with corruption cases in Istanbul municipalities.
