Deepak Dwivedi
FROM standing by the Ottoman Empire during the Khilafat Movement to cooperating with modern Turkey in trade, technology, education and cultural exchanges, India believed in long-term goodwill. But today, it is betrayed by a country it once supported during its most critical moment in history.
Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has chosen to side with Pakistan not just diplomatically, but militarily, feeding New Delhi’s enemy with deadly drones and rhetoric, revealing Ankara’s dangerous ambitions to become the ideological capital of a pan-Islamist world order.
Military drones manufactured by a company owned by Erdogan’s son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar have been weaponised by Pakistan in the recent hostilities. It is no coincidence that the Pakistani military, flush with Chinese and now Turkish support, was emboldened in its provocative acts across the LoC. But India is no longer watching silently. Turkish firms operating in India are now facing a quiet, but firm, rollback. The Government is reportedly targeting those firms that have indirect connections with the Turkish ruling family.
One such firm had ongoing collaborations with Indian industries. But post the revelations about Ankara’s defence dealings with Islamabad, New Delhi is beginning to sever ties. This is not just about foreign policy; this is about national security.
The diplomatic frost has started touching academia as well. Several Indian universities, including Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, have now either cancelled or stalled their memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Turkish educational institutions. What began as cultural and academic exchanges have now turned into cautionary tales of misplaced trust. It is becoming increasingly clear that Turkish academia, like many other arms of the state, is influenced – if not controlled – by the ideological machinery of Erdogan’s administration. India cannot afford to keep its windows open to propaganda disguised as intellectual cooperation. This betrayal stings more because of the historical goodwill India extended to Turkey.
During the 1920s, when the Ottoman Caliphate was being dismantled by Western colonial powers, Indian Muslims – and Indian leaders – came forward in solidarity. The Khilafat Movement was also supported by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. Indian freedom fighters, fighting their war against the British Raj, paused to lend moral and political support to a foreign empire, simply based on civilisational and religious empathy.
And yet, a century later, the Turkish state pays back with hostility, aligning itself not with the world’s largest democracy, but with a failed terror-sponsoring regime. The hypocrisy is complete when one looks at Erdogan’s domestic policies. Once hailed as a reformer, he has now dismantled Turkish secularism, jailing dissidents, muzzling the media, and openly promoting an Islamist agenda. Erdogan is no longer content being the President of Turkey; he aspires to be the caliph of the Islamic world. And for that, he sees India – a pluralistic, secular, majority Hindu nation – as an ideological rival.
Turkey’s betrayal is not just strategic, it is civilisational. It is a deliberate choice to side with India’s enemies and undermine a century-old bond. India must now recalibrate its foreign policy with clarity and strength. We have friends in West Asia – the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – which have shown greater pragmatism and respect. India must deepen ties with them while sending a clear message to Ankara: betrayal has consequences.
