The radical regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now taking the Pakistan route of spreading hatred and venom in the subcontinent. According to a news report in Hindustan Times, Islamist radical organizations in parts of the country including Kerala and Kashmir are being ‘supported and funded’ by Turkish outfits backed by Erdogan’s government in Ankara.
Erdogan has emerged as the most underrated enemy of India lately and his demonic dreams of establishing the glory of the barbaric Ottoman Empire is driving him to support radical elements of India.
A recent assessment in New Delhi had noted the emergence of Turkey as “the hub of anti-India activities” next only to Pakistan.
“There is an effort to radicalise Indian muslims and recruit fundamentalists coordinated from Turkey,” a senior government official told HT.
Indian officials said the Turkish government had funded Kashmir’s hardline separatist leader such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani for years. But it is the rapidly expanding scale of the effort that recently nudged security agencies to carry out an extensive review.
We have seen enough of these separatists and fundamentalists in Kashmir and their modus-operandi in disseminating anti-India rhetoric. These separatist masquerade as goodwill ambassadors of the native Kashmiris but in the garb of Kashmiriyat push Pakistan’s agenda of liberating Kashmir.
By drawing huge funding from Pakistan and Turkey, these separatists are able to live a lavish lifestyle and send their kids to schools and colleges abroad.
However, after the abrogation of article 370, the Pakistan funding line to these fundamentalists has diminished significantly and therefore separatists like Syed Geelani have had to hang up their boots and go into retirement.
But now, Turkey has started buying more influence and is funneling crores to radicalize the youths down south in Kerala. The communist hotbed of Kerala has emerged as the route of a plethora of fundamentalists activities.
ISIS recruits have often been recruited from the infamous Kasargod module in the state. The state has had its connections to Sri Lankan Church bomb blasts who were inspired by another Islamic extremist named Zakir Naik who has been hiding in Malaysia from the Indian authorities.
Zakir Naik has also been funded heavily by Turkey and it was the collusion of Erdogan and Mahathir Mohammed that Naik was able to evade the clutches of the Modi government for so long. However, with a change of regime in Malaysia, murmurs of Naik being extradited to India have been steadily growing.
Ghalib Guru, son of terrorist Afzal Guru was also given a medical scholarship by Turkey, precisely because of his connection to the terrorist, who is revered by fundamentalists as a martyr.
It is also relevant to mention here that last year during the 74th United Nations General Assembly session, Erdogan had toed Pakistan line on Kashmir even as Imran Khan made all possible attempts to internationalize Modi government’s decision of abrogating Article 370.
During his speech, Erdogan had said, “Despite the resolutions adopted, Kashmir is still besieged and eight million people are stuck in Kashmir.” He had added, In order for the Kashmiri people to look at a safe future together with their Pakistani and Indian neighbours, it is imperative to solve the problem through dialogue and on the basis of justice and equity, but not through collision.”
The remarks had not gone down well with India, and New Delhi had then retorted with soft diplomatic replies as PM Modi met the Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on the sidelines of the UNGA session.
Turkey, under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has grown extremely warm relations with Pakistan in recent times, much to the dismay of Arab and Gulf nations, particularly the global Islamic hegemon – Saudi Arabia.
Erdogan thinks of himself as wannabe Khalifa who has the responsibility to usher the Muslims of the world into a bygone era. The man dreams of assuming the role of Caliph and aims at ruling the Muslim world globally, unseating Saudi Arabia from its present throne of influence.
The conversion of Hagia Sophia, a Church/museum into a Mosque is Erdogan’s message to the Islamic world that the Ottoman empire is shaping up and that the undisputed leader of the Arab world—Saudi Arabia needs to buckle up for being dethroned.
As such, Saudi Arabia and its allies, which include the UAE, have grown a particular disgust for Turkey, and Erdogan has been mixing with Pakistan to create his own alternate reality.
India authorities need to understand that Turkey and the madman Erdogan have become more than a soft-threat for India. The intel agencies need to be on constant vigil as the threat of Turkey and the rise of extremist elements from its funding increases.