Why does Pakistan have an affinity for Turkey?

[Foxtrot Delta]

Whenever you feel up for writing it, I'd love to read it.

I will 当然

 

[MultaniGuy]

Im no expat. I live in ajk mzd

According to your mini profile on the left it says you live in China.

At Opening Poster, Pakistanis think of Turks in neutral terms.

Neither Favourably nor Negatively.

And the Turkish people probably think of us that way as well.

The Kemalists in Turkey probably dislike Pakistan, because it hurts their "secular" or "laiklik" worldview.

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

According to your mini profile on the left it says you live in China.

At Opening Poster, Pakistanis think of Turks in neutral terms.

Neither Favourably nor Negatively.

And the Turkish people probably think of us that way as well.

The Kemalists in Turkey probably dislike Pakistan, because it hurts their "secular" or "laiklik" worldview.

Used to. When i made the profile. I plan to go back this december so kept it

Also china is my second home! Hence the flag. Love china

 

[Rafi]

I really do not know, there just exists a special connection, it's evident even here abroad.

It could be that we are both non-Arab Sunni Hanafi-majority states. We have also historically supported each other; our Grandfathers and Great Grandfathers deserted, defected or were executed when they heard they would be fighting the Ottoman Caliphate. We funded and to an extent, supplied the Turkish independence movement; many of ours Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers have scars from when they ripped jewelry off their ears in haste to contribute to the war effort.

Turkey supported us in our wars against India and diplomatically supports us on Kashmir, we supported them on Azerbaijan-Armenia, Cyprus and Bosnia; during Bosnia, we were militarily involved while in the Azerbaijan-Armenia war we covertly funneled in volunteers and weapons.

Brother I am a Shia and even I have a great closeness to Turkey and its people, they too have a large Shia minority.

 

[Fawad alam]

We have lots of religious, cultural and philosophical similarities
Even Ottomans and Mughals were very close to each other,
Our language Urdu is actual a Turkish word, just see our flags.

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

According to your mini profile on the left it says you live in China.

At Opening Poster, Pakistanis think of Turks in neutral terms.

Neither Favourably nor Negatively.

And the Turkish people probably think of us that way as well.

The Kemalists in Turkey probably dislike Pakistan, because it hurts their "secular" or "laiklik" worldview.

I'm going by my impression on this site (far from scientific, I know). I can't find any polling data on Pakistanis' attitude toward Turkey.

Our language Urdu is actual a Turkish word

Interesting. I did not know that - now that I think about it, the word does sound Turkish.

 

[SALMAN F]

They don’t only few misguided Islamists

Pakistanis supported the Turkish war of independence because of religion even though the Turkish Republic was anti religion later

Many Pakistanis are misguided and naive like many Arabs who think turkey supports the uyghurs because of Islam they don’t know that the Turkish nationalists/pan Turks consider the Buddhist Turkics as their brothers while they don’t consider the Sunni Kurds as their enemies. They don’t really care about the other Muslims like Arabs or south Asians just like the Iranian nationalists who view the Iranian Jew as their brother while they see the Shia Arab as their enemy

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

I have a few questions for the Pakistani members here. I've noticed in my time here that a lot of Pakistani members have a (to me) strange affinity and cultural closeness to Turkey. I can't say if it's something that generalizes since I don't know many Pakistanis and their views about Turkey have never come up in conversation. So, my first question is is this affinity widespread among Pakistanis?

This bonhomie is something that I've noticed runs deeper than just affinity for a fellow Sunni Muslim state. For instance, I've never noticed Pakistanis here express similar feelings for Morocco or Algeria. Maybe Saudi Arabia, but that's more explainable by the large Pakistani diaspora there, its wealth and support of Pakistan, and its custodianship of Islam's holy sites. Turkey can't be explained in this way. What, in your opinion, is the reason for this closeness?

Also, and this has irked me somewhat, I see Turkish armaments held in higher esteem here than they should be. Pakistanis here seem to view them as equal, or superior to, Chinese weapons. That's simply false - Chinese weapons are more technologically advanced and far more price competitive. The only exceptions to this (and only on the technology front) are when Turkish manufacturers partner with European ones - in which case Pakistan is just buying the European stuff by proxy.

Turkey doesn't give Pakistan any special financial, diplomatic, or military support. Why the love?

As far as culture, basis for existence, and historical experience, Pakistan and Turkey are twins.

Both are descendants of two of the most important Islamic Turkic empires, Ottomans and Mughals. Both dealt with the consequences of ailing empires and foreign rule.

Atatürk was a mirror image to Quaid e Azam in many ways. He may have been more secular owing to his experience as a Ghazi (holy warrior) fighting Arabs and Europeans at the same time. Quaid e Azam came from a political and legal background and fought for Pakistan in a court room and in the British constitutional setting.

Culturally, both us come from the Persian mainly Sunni Sufi Islamic culture which we share with Slavic Muslims, Caucasus, Afghanistan, Kurds, Sunni Iranians. Our culture is heavily based on Islamic poetry and philosophy. We also share similar cuisine and many common words.

Other than this, Turkey and Pakistan have always been allies and have championed each others’ causes regardless of the consequences, and we shall continue to do so.

These are just a few points.

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

I'm honestly interested to learn more about this history. Because if its support for "100 years" (Pakistan only came to existence in 1947, so how are they 100 years?), China has supported Pakistan much more extensively than Turkey. China supplied Pakistan with its nuclear deterrent, without which it would have been annexed by India.

The people didn't just pop out of nowhere, this is silly reasoning on your part. I expected more from you

 

[Mamluk]

Many Pakistanis are misguided and naive like many Arabs who think turkey supports the uyghurs because of Islam they don’t know that the Turkish nationalists/pan Turks consider the Buddhist Turkics as their brothers while they don’t consider the Sunni Kurds as their enemies. They don’t really care about the other Muslims like Arabs or south Asians just like the Iranian nationalists who view the Iranian Jew as their brother while they see the Shia Arab as their enemy

Religion can't be the only factor that influences friendship. Arabs and Persians, despite being Muslim, have stayed neutral on the Kashmir issue. Turkey supports us. It's wrong to assume we are friendly entirely because of shared faith.

 

[SALMAN F]

Religion can't be the only factor that influences friendship. Arabs and Persians, despite being Muslim, have stayed neutral on the Kashmir issue. Turkey supports us. It's wrong to assume we are friendly entirely because of shared faith.

Many countries supported Pakistan on the Kashmir issue so what I don’t see the Pakistanis love them as they almost love turkey

 

[Mamluk]

Many countries supported Pakistan on the Kashmir issue so what I don’t see the Pakistanis love them as they almost love turkey

Not really. Almost no one other than Turkey, Azerbaijan and China.

 

[Imad.Khan]

Umm.. No Pakistani loves Turkey.

Turkey is just another Muslims country who Pakistan has no cultural ties with.

I think of Turks in neutral terms.

Sorry but apart from you, every Pakistani has a different view of Turkey

 

[OldenWisdom...قول بزرگ]

While many don't either know or undercut the spread of Islam in south Asia. Though mainstream history points to Arab invasion of Sindh it is instead the northern incursions by Turkic tribes that brought Islam in its solid footing. In fact all northern Buddhists bacame Muslim in one huge wave. Later up until the mogul rule all were Turkic. The Saljuk, Mamluk, Khawazimian, Khilji and Lodhi's. Even Moguls were Uzbek Turks.

It is quite natural then that the resultant people speak a language that has deeply embedded Turkic and Persian words(Persian was chosen language of many Turkic empires).

 

[Fawad alam]

I love Turkey.

Umm.. No Pakistani loves Turkey.

Turkey is just another Muslims country who Pakistan has no cultural ties with.

I think of Turks in neutral terms.