Turkish daily mulls Ankara-Islamabad ties amid developments in Afghanistan
By Vugar Khalilov
An opinion piece in Turkey’s Yeni Shafak newspaper has analyzed the future of Ankara-Islamabad ties amid NATO’s new policies in Turkestan and Afghanistan.
Stressing that after the withdrawal of the US troops, Turkey, as a NATO country, has been “assigned” a new role in Afghanistan and Turkestan region, the daily said that the US goal in the region runs counter to that of China that has close relations with Turkey’s ally Pakistan.
“The question to be asked in the Afghanistan issue is how Turkey's playing a dominant role in Afghanistan through a NATO mission will affect Pakistan-Turkey relations.”
Reminding that Pakistan has extremely close relations with China and stands on a line close to China in the “game”, the newspaper questioned: “How will our Pakistani friends respond to Turkey's appearance in Afghanistan through a NATO mission and its inevitable party to the East Turkestan issue in line with the policies of the USA and NATO? The President of Turkey, of course, rightly warned China over East Turkestan with his latest speech. We do not know the reflection of this in Pakistan. Why is Pakistan, an Islamic state, so silent about what is happening in East Turkestan, which is a Muslim? Why can't Imran Khan take a clear stand in the face of the questions asked to him on this matter?”
The newspaper said that China and Russia are extremely active in Central Asia region that is among hotbeds in the world.
“From one hand, Russia is meeting with the Taliban; on the other hand, it is trying to establish military bases by negotiating with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Turkey's expectation is to turn its presence in Afghanistan into an opportunity and to get a little closer to the Turkish world. At the final stage, there is a design to implement the Union of Turkish States.”
“I don't know how Turkey and Pakistan will get out of this. But these two "friend" and "brother" states and peoples are expected hard days in the turmoil of the Central Asia,” the article concluded.
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