As Turkey descends into Islamic theocratic state under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Islamist radical organisations in parts of India including Kerala and Kashmir are being supported and funded by Turkish outfits, as reported by Hindustan Times.
A senior government official has said, “There is an effort to radicalise Indian Muslims and recruit fundamentalists coordinated from Turkey”.
It was also noted that Turkey has been emerging as “the hub of anti-India activities” next only to Pakistan.
A government official said, “We are also aware of some people from this group travelling to Qatar to meet some people from Turkey to seek funding for their activities. That amounts as high as ₹40 lakh are being offered to preach radical Islam in Kerala”.
A Kerala-based Islamist radical organisation has come under the observation of Indian intelligence that had been funded from Turkey for some time.
Turkey is also a supporter of Zakir Naik, the controversial Islamic preacher who is right now in Malaysia that has caused diplomatic friction.
Erdogan’s political agenda is to expand his influence with South Asian Muslims and challenge Saudi Arabia’s dominance at the global level.
It is to be noted that the Turkish government had funded Kashmir’s hardline separatist leader such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani for years.
Turkey is also funding religious seminars in India, providing scholarships to many Indian Muslims and recruiting Islamists to radicalise people.
Since Narendra Modi’s ascension to power, our relationship with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has seen a lot of improvement much to the chagrin of Pakistan.
Turkey decided to exploit this vacuum and decided to support a nuclear-armed Pakistan which also reciprocated.
When India passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Turkey took the lead in protesting against this amendment. When there were mass protests over CAA, Turkey sent money to keep the protests going, according to an intelligence assessment accessed by HT.
Indian intelligence believes the Islamic radicalisation is bankrolled by Ankara in coordination with Pakistan.
During the last United Nations Security general assembly, Erdogan was outspoken against India in the UN general assembly over Kashmir. When he visited Pakistan in February, he stressed that Kashmir is as important to Turkey as it is to Pakistan. “Kashmir is and will be the same for us. It was Çanakkale yesterday and it is Kashmir today, he said.
After Erdogan established his power in Turkey, he has been slowly working towards his dream of becoming the next leader of the Ummah (Muslim community) and challenge Saudi Arabia’s dominance in the Islamic world.
Erdogan is trying to position himself as the saviour of Muslims across the world much like the Ottoman Caliphs and is taking steps to build a group that has Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran and Qatar in direct contravention of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). However, he has washed his hands off Uighur Muslims and has been sucking up to China for its money.
In the OIC, Turkey is the only Islamic nation that actively backs Pakistan’s Kashmir agenda and also has close economic ties with China as the dragon is investing billions of dollars into its economy.
Many have called that Erdogan dreams a revival of the Ottoman traditions as the model for other Islamic nations to follow.
Under his rule, the Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque which many see as the first open attempt to move away from secular society. The Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum in 1934. The Ottomans conquered the Byzantine empire in the year 1453 AD and converted the famous orthodox church into a mosque as a symbol of there victory.