Syria to Indonesia, Turkiye Has Never Had It So Good: The Growing Sphere of Erdogan's Influence| OPINION

As Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes his official tour to Pakistan and Southeast Asia, the leader seems to be at an all time political high. From almost losing the Presidency in 2023, to a rupture with powerful Arab countries, Erdogan can now claim power projection in a manner that few statesmen can presently emulate. From Syria to Bangladesh, Libya to Indonesia, Turkiye (Turkey) is riding on a crest of what seems to be a very successful foreign policy.Syria has been the one huge foreign policy win for Erdogan. As the Arab Spring swept through West Asia and North Africa, Turkiye found itself in the crosshairs of powerful Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and regional heavyweights like Egypt. President Erdogan's Justice and Development (AKP) Party, with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, naturally empathised with those like the late Mohammed Morsi's party, and provided refuge to many conservative ideologues like the late Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) country, Turkiye's metamorphosis from a NATO member-state to a leader of the Muslim world has reached new heights under Erdogan who, it is widely acknowledged, wanted to resuscitate the Ottoman caliphate in a new 21st century avatar.Türkiye Under Erdogan: Agent Provocateur Who Always Sullies the NarrativeIn 2016, while commemorating the centenary of the Kut al-Amara victory (in modern Iraq), Erdogan stated that he rejects any understanding of history that takes 1919 as the start of the 1,000-year-old history of his nation and civilisation. "Whoever leaves out our last 200 years, even 600 years together with its victories and defeats, and jumps directly from old Turkish history to the Republic, is an enemy of our nation and state," he stated. With Arab leaders from Iraq's Kut region by his side, Erdogan noted that just a century ago, there was no difference between Bursa and Skopje, just as Baghdad, Mosul, Damascus, Aleppo, Salonica, Batum and Kardzhali didn't have any difference.However, political schemes aimed at drawing artificial borders according to oil resources and taking advantage of the Ottoman State's pluralistic structure separated these lands from each other. In his speech, Erdogan also went on to say that there were no spiritual borders between the Arab world and Turkey, between Shia and Sunni sects.This dream seems to be coming true now. The victory of the Syrian rebel groups under the leader of Mohammed Al Sharaa has primarily been due to Turkish logistical and military support together with Qatari resources.When the Arab Gulf States imposed a blockade on Qatar for its support to the Arab Spring and Islamist groups in the region, Turkiye deftly used the situation to its advantage and airlifted products into Qatar, in turn reaping huge Qatari investments into its struggling economy, and a Turkish military base in Qatar. Syria's Political Earthquake: What Happens Now is Difficult to PredictNow, with Al Sharaa at the helm of affairs in Syria for at least the next four years, it is Turkiye and Qatar in the driver's seat all the way.Turkiye's expansive footprint found another watershed moment in 2020, this time in the South Caucuses in Russia's sphere of interest, during the Armenia-Azerbaijan war over the contested territory of Nagorny-Karabakh. Turkish arms, intelligence and military counselors won the war for Azerbaijan, making it a stakeholder in the region. Turkish arms, especially its famed Bayraktar TB2 drones, saw a dramatic rise in demand for them from countries in the region, and elsewhere.Deftly combining this hard power with its soft power through cultural exports like teleserials, tourism, humanitarian aid, and a flotilla to Gaza, Turkiye has been steadily increasing its footprint in the South Caucuses and Central Asian region, institutionalising it in the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS), an intergovernmental institution consisting of countries with Turkic populations.As Erdogan co-chairs the seventh high-level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart, bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkiye, which have always been strong, are set to grow stronger. Both have a close defense partnership; they participate in joint military exercises, Turkiye trains Pakistan military personnel, supplies Pakistan with T129 ATAK helicopters, MILGEM-class corvettes, and other military hardware, Turkiye helps maintain Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 aircraft and so on. Trade volumes are also increasing between them. Speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, Erdogan said: “Turkiye and Pakistan are two great countries tied to each other with an ancient and unshakable spirit of brotherhood.”Meanwhile, Turkiye has also facilitated strong partnership between Azerbaijan and Pakistan. With its 'Asia Anew' policy, Turkiye has been making cultural and religious inroads in countries of South and Southeast Asia like Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia.It began defence cooperation under the watch of India's friend, ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina. It should have come as no surprise that Turkish drones were spotted on the India-Bangladesh border after the overthrow of Hasina's government.Delegitimising Hamas: The Crisis Facing the Ulema and Arab StatespersonsWith its support for Hamas, stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Kashmiri separatists, and by representing a largely non-Arab (often Sufi) Islam, Turkiye has thrown a gauntlet to traditional Saudi leadership of the Muslim world.To the extent, that in 2019 Turkiye, together with Malaysia under then President Mohammed Mahathir, and Pakistan, had even ambitiously tried to float an alternate Muslim platform to the Organisation of Islamic Conference in 2019. It came to naught, but a message was conveyed.While Turkiye was put on the backfoot for a while, its victories in the South Caucuses and now Syria have again marked its rise in global politics. In Jakarta, Erdogan clinched a deal for Turkish defense manufacturer Baykar for the export of 60 Bayraktar TB3 and nine Bayraktar Akinci drones to Indonesia and for their joint production. The TB3 is the advanced model of the TB2 drone.Erdogan’s Pipeline Politics in Central Asia To Turn Turkey Into Region’s Gas HubIn Kuala Lumpur, Erdogan not only deepened its strategic partnership with Malaysia in trade, defense, energy, but also pledged support to a Palestinian state and vowed to combat Islamophobia jointly.Elsewhere too, Erdogan has played his cards adroitly. Being a NATO member, Turkiye's role in facilitating the grains agreement between Russia and Ukraine, while welcoming tourists from sanctioned Russia, places it in a favorable position. It is also toying with the idea of joining the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) grouping.In Africa, Turkiye has militarily intervened in support of the Government of National Accord in Libya, and favoured General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Sudan, indirectly challenging the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) support to opposition forces. More recently, it offered to mediate between Somalia and Ethiopia. In Libya, Turkey was rewarded by the maritime boundary treaty, (though contested by other states and not ratified by the Libyan parliament). In Somalia, the important Mogadishu Port is run by a Turkish company, giving the country a major foothold in the strategically significant Horn of Africa. Turkisn troops remain stationed in both Libya and Somalia.All in all, NATO membership and Islamic brotherhood have converged to help Turkiye become not only a regional power but an increasingly important extra-regional player in Central, South and Southeast Asia.(Aditi Bhaduri is a journalist and political analyst. She tweets @aditijan. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

BECOME A MEMBER

Turkiye Turning As Erdogan Eyes Bigger Seat at the Muslim World Table

Turkey has thrown a gauntlet to traditional Saudi leadership of the Muslim world, writes Aditi Bhaduri.

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from opinion

Topics: Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey President Southeast Asia