Ties with Turkey

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to Turkey was particularly significant as Pakistan looks to move beyond its traditional reliance on the US, and forge new alliances that will better serve our interests. In recent years, Pakistan has stepped up its relationship with China and also sought to create new partnerships with the likes of Russia and Turkey. With American power believed to be on the decline, these countries are increasingly stepping up to fill the void. The most notable announcement to come out of Imran’s meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was that the two countries would host a trilateral summit with Afghanistan in Istanbul later this year.

Pakistan has been worried about being frozen out of the Afghan peace process since both the US and the Afghan government are wary of us. But as a neighbour of Afghanistan, and one which has suffered the most from the US invasion of the country, Pakistan has a genuine interest in how peace talks pan out. The country’s presence at last year’s summit in Russia, where the Afghan Taliban took direct part in talks, and at a peace summit in the UAE at least ensured it was still part of the discussion. The summit in Istanbul should be of further help in trying to remove tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan government.

The PM’s visit to Turkey was successful in other respects too. Turkey recognised Pakistan’s right to be a member of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and there were agreements to further increase trade and defence cooperation. It is notable that the joint statement released by the two leaders mentioned that Pakistan would work together to fight the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused by the Turkish government of orchestrating a coup attempt against Erdogan. While Pakistan should try not to get involved with the internal political complications of other countries, it is also important that we not jeopardise our relationship with the Turkish government. Pakistan’s closeness to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both of whom have recently given us large aid packages, means other countries in the region do not always trust us – Iran and Turkey prominent among them. To show that we seek only good relations with all Muslim-majority countries should be a first principle of our foreign policy and the trip to Turkey should go some way in achieving that objective.