Pakistan’s Turkish delight

There are many good reasons for Pakistanis dreaming of Turkey, least of which is Turkey’s uninhibited endowment of human grace and beauty, both men and women, one might add. But the more delectable of these, the human form, has been so skilfully immortalised in the frequently-run Turkish dramas dubbed in Urdu for the voracious Pakistani audiences that in today’s Pakistan it is almost impossible to think away from it.

Unless, of course, you are a businessman from the ruling family; though, even such lust for the material fades before recurring infatuations of the sublime. The Sharifs are no exception, but why add to their continuing saga of tribulations. Let this story be told another time. Back to politics.

Turkey truly is the geographical and beauty pivot of the world. I don’t know whether it is the absolute true centre or not but it surely is the political centre of the world. Consider: the Turkish landmass is not a part of the Middle East but sits at the door of the Middle East with Syria, Iraq and Iran attached to its umbilical. That it actually once ruled all of the Middle East still touches a raw nerve in the Arab world.

The Kurds, the new favourites of the world, are centred around the point where these four nations converge with a possibility that a state of Kurdistan may one day emerge composed of those regions – were the Americans to have their way.

It sits on the mouth of the Mediterranean, and anyone seeking entry into both West Asia and the Middle East from Europe can only find it through Turkey. Which means it is also the gateway to Europe for anyone trekking from Asia, including from the Middle East.

The Mediterranean Sea itself is the most handsome lake in the entire world around which temperate weather rules the roost and endows each of the rim nations with the finest of everything ‘fine’ in life. Think Spain, Morocco, and Italy; Greece and Turkey – a world apart. Sultan Suleman’s favourite imports were from the finest consequences of the racial mixing that went with the expanding Ottomans into the heartland of Europe.

Even God knew where to keep His prophets, though Jerusalem may have been just a little inland. The prophets though were extraordinary people and did travel around carrying the message, and that brought them frequently in contact with the Mediterranean. Not without reason then the Ottomans found a way to assert themselves around the lake and gain the flavours that enriched the region and surrounded them.

Politically and aesthetically the centre of this world surely lies in Turkey. Of it there can be little doubt. We, the Muslims in India, touched this remote greatness through a nuanced attachment of the faith driven Khilafat Movement. The Khilafat Movement embellished political motives. Alone the Muslims of India could not have resisted the British Raj; they were so completely vanquished, beholden and undone. But being tied to what were the whimpered dying moments of a far way Muslim glory gave them the false hope of defiance against a local juggernaut.

What followed though is far more instructive but is conveniently forgotten in our retelling of history. Mustefa Kemal Pasha rang the bell on the religious overhang of the Ottoman leftovers that so beckoned the Indian Muslim’s allegiance, forcing them to seek local redress.

Turkey’s current Sultan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seems to be on a drive to recreate the past image. He has been glorified for many reasons over the last decade. Rising from a Mayor of Istanbul he has gone on to resurrect the religious undertones of Turkey’s past glory away from the secular Kemalism that had hitherto reformed Turkey in search of its European future. He has energised the economy, built on the latent promise of Turkey’s unmatched geographical advantage, made a name within the Muslim world for his pragmatic model of governance as indeed religious management. Along the way, he has been returned three times to head Turkey.

With accolades from all around the world, and with the region and even the super powers deferring to his achievements – and the strategic imperatives of his country – he surely has been tempting fate lately. The recently failed attempt of a military coup against his exaggerated ways to accumulate power and resurrect past glories was the first countermove attempted at restoring the balance. That it failed has pushed Erdogan to greater extremes.

There have been a few purges of the Kemalist military under Erdogan. And these went through without a reprisal. The constitution was changed to give him more powers and the role of the military was significantly curtailed in state matters. His all-round popularity afforded him the chance to play around a bit by throwing some of the purged generals into jails. Still, no reprisal.

He challenged Israel – again popular among his people; and has gradually walked away from Turkey’s European ambition by underscoring even greater undertones in Turkey’s Islamic orientation. That too held without major damage. Till of course Isis and the Kurds both began hitting him.

Erdogan took on Russia in Syria, in compliance to his Nato affiliation, and then found how alone he felt when threatened by Russia. While Turkey’s perpetual patron, the US, wanted both Isis and Assad out, Erdogan wanted only Assad out. The US wanted the Kurds to be central in their fight against the Isis, Erdogan wanted them eliminated. His son was loudly alleged to have rubbed shoulders with the Isis in trading oil.

As Erdogan mended his relations with Putin, the US could have only been jaded. Even more critically, he sits atop the confluence of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean – Russia’s only means to exercise its year-long naval muscle – making it almost impossible that the world will let a gravely independent Turkey be for too long. Such is the tyranny of its geography.

Erdogan has sacked and jailed tens of thousands of his opponents from the military, judiciary, media and the academia. There isn’t a bigger combustible mix to have in the opposing camp. And each of these entities has an elephantine memory. Add to this how the US and Europe watch his shenanigans, or how Putin will react to his eventually dumping the bear-hug –for longevity’s sake – and the countercurrents will simply go ablaze.

Erdogan sits on a powder keg. I hope among the many delights that we imbibe from Turkey we keep this cost of highhandedness uppermost.

The writer is a retired air-vicemarshal, former ambassador and a security and political analyst.

Email: shhzdchdhry@yahoo.com