Indian vice president expected to visit Turkey soon
As a landmark sign of the expanding relationship between Turkey and India, the two countries have been arranging yet another senior-level visit. Vice President of India and President of the Upper House of Parliament Hamid Ansari is expected to pay an official visit to Ankara in the near future at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin.
No exact date has yet been set for the visit; however, work by both Ankara and New Delhi is under way for the visit, which may take place as early as next month, Indian diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman this week.
Vice President Ansari, a Muslim, is the grandson of a brother of Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, who is not only a key figure in India’s history, but also played a part in the history of the Republic of Turkey.
M.A. Ansari (1880-1936), a medical doctor, was a former president of India. In December 1912, Ansari led a medical mission to Turkey to provide medical and surgical aid to the fighting Turkish army in the Balkan War. Historians say that although the mission was organized by Muslim leaders, it paved the way for the Indian national leaders to put India on the world map by advocating and fostering international understanding.
In the last few years, the frequency of senior-level contacts between the two distant countries has increased significantly, reflecting the presence of a mutual will to eventually fulfill the as yet unmet potential for bilateral cooperation.
In February 2008, Turkey’s then-foreign minister, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, paid an official visit to India, becoming the first Turkish foreign minister to visit the country in three decades. Babacan’s visit, during which he sought ways to improve economic ties, was followed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s official visit to the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent in November 2008.
In February 2010, President Abdullah Gül went to India for a six-day “state visit” -- described as the highest level of state protocol -- making him the first Turkish president to visit the South Asian country in 15 years.
During the visit, Gül held talks with Ansari and several top officials. In a speech delivered during the visit, Gül had described the two countries’ struggles for independence as milestones in their respective histories.
“We will not forget the Indians’ support for the Turkish War of Independence. One of our shared words, dost [friend], indicates the strong relations between the two countries,” Gül said at the time.