India has been prompt in sending the relief teams to Turkey which has been devastated by three quakes.
Turkey is pleasantly surprised by India’s assistance at the time when it has been hit by a natural calamity. Three earthquakes in a span of 24 hours have left thousands dead and caused mass devastation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was prompt to offer condolences to the loss of life; more importantly, the expression of sympathy was more than verbal; relief to the quake-hit was immediately organised; by the time of writing of these lines, an Indian Air Force plane with a relief team from India had already reached Adana in Turkey. Evidently, Ankara did not expect such a friendly gesture from New Delhi, for the former has been quite critical of the Modi regime for some time. In September last year at the UN General Assembly session, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raked up the Kashmir issue during his address to world leaders, much to the anger of India. “India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, they still haven’t established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate. We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir,” he said. Turkey has also tried to embarrass India at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In this, it has been aided by Pakistan, a close ally of Turkey’s.
Erdogan, in particular, seems to nurture the ambitions of becoming some kind of Caliph; the nurturing has coincided with the oil-rich Arabs, especially Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), losing interest in spreading jihad worldwide. Erdogan has almost undone the secular legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern Turkey. While Atatürk promoted Turkish nationalism, Erdogan has been a votary of Islamism. Three years ago, Erdogan had transformed Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, a historic monument, into a mosque. He even led worshippers in the first prayers in it. Against this backdrop, it must have delighted the powers that be in Ankara that New Delhi did not let its antipathy towards them colour its reaction to the calamity. Turkish Ambassador to India Firat Sunel tweeted: “‘Dost’ is a common word in Turkish and Hindi... We have a Turkish proverb: ‘Dost kara gunde belli olur’ (a friend in need is a friend indeed). Thank you very much India.” Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan visited Turkey’s embassy. Rescue and medical teams have already left from India to Turkey. The Prime Minister’s Office held a meeting, where it was decided to send two teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF). The teams will include 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and the requisite equipment. It may be mentioned here that such endeavours are not an exception but the rule; in the past too India helped other countries, including the hostile ones, when they faced humongous crises. PM Modi himself spearheaded Vaccine Maitri. The MEA must capitalise on the equity created by India’s generosity.
