Can India Trust Turkish Companies?

The relations between the EU and Turkey have soured over time and it seems unlikely that Turkey would be admitted to the EU, especially under the present leadership of President Recep Erdogan. President Erdogan has started behaving differently in the last decade.

By Dr Sanat Kaul,The Statesman,

Like Pakistani and Chinese companies working in India, the security concerns regarding them should now tend to extend to Turkey also. Turkey has been being for long a member of NATO and an aspirant to join the European Union.

The relations between the EU and Turkey have soured over time and it seems unlikely that Turkey would be admitted to the EU, especially under the present leadership of President Recep Erdogan. President Erdogan has started behaving differently in the last decade.

While Turkey was declared a secular state in 1923 by a constitutional amendment in spite of its population being 99% Muslim, President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party( AKP) is turning towards an Islamist agenda. In its foreign policy, it is becoming more and more blatant as Turkey has chosen to ignore the unwritten understanding of NATO and has flirted with Russia.

While it has supplied its BayrakarTB2 Drones with precision air strike capability to Ukraine, it has purchased the Russian S-400 missile system notwithstanding being a member of NATO. The US has imposed sanctions on it for this.

As far as its relations with India are concerned, it has been critical of India over Kashmir and has supported Pakistan. While India continues to stick to its position that Kashmir is entirely a bilateral issue, Turkey has been favouring Pakistan and has raised this issue in the UN several times asking for solutions within the framework of the United Nations.

As a reaction to this India has raised the issue of Cyprus with whom Turkey has long-standing issues. During the last SCO meeting in Samarkand Erodan did again raise the Kashmir issue but in a milder form.

Another disturbing trend taking place is the new axis between Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia as

against the old Islamic Gulf countries with which India has good relations. Claimed by some analysts, that Turkey wants to emerge as the leader of the Islamic World replacing traditional Saudi Arabia. Saudis have become closer to India with strong defence and economic ties at the cost of Pakistan.

On the other side, Turkey has assured Pakistan not only helping in its economic development but also in defence. Pakistan is in the process of purchasing Turkish-built MILGEM corvette ships and 30 T-129 ATAK helicopters for over $3 billion. There is also talk of a nuclear axis between the two.

Pakistan has been supporting Azerbaijan in its clash with Armenia for the last few decades and has supplied them with military equipment. Turkey has recently joined up with Azerbaijan and also supplied them with Turkish-made Drones which are already been proven in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich country, is also supporting Pakistan over its position on Kashmir and attended the August 5th protest against the withdrawal of Article 370 organised by Pakistan at the UN.

Azerbaijan is currently the chair of the Non-Alignment Movement and has appreciated the role of Pakistan in aiding the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan. While India has an excellent relationship with Azerbaijan including ONGC’s investment in gas fields, it has recently concluded a defence deal of about Rs 2000 crore to supply weapons like Pinaka rocket launcher to Armenia.

Last but not the least, is the issue of FATF- Financial Action Task Force- described as a global Money laundering and terrorist financing task force. This is an inter-governmental organisation based in Paris which sets international standards and ‘aims to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society.

FATF recommendations ensure a coordinated global response to prevent organised crime, corruption and terrorism. With 200 member countries and organisations, it carries weight. Both Pakistan and Turkey are on their ‘Grey List’- which means that FAFT has placed these countries under increased monitoring to check their progress against money laundering due to strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

As on June 2022, there were 23 countries including Pakistan and Turkey. Both Pakistan and Turkey have been on this list for some years.

We now come to the moot question of what security concerns we should have with Turkey. When a country tends to become a security liability how far can we allow security clearance given earlier to continue, especially in areas like Ports and Airports which handle sensitive cargo, passengers and a host of other activities like communications etc?

As far as Pakistan is concerned it is clear that we do not give any security clearance to persons or corporate remotely connected with Pakistan. Turkey in India has always been perceived as a friendly country and clearance was given. In a recent case of the appointment of a CEO for the newly privatised Air India under the TATA group, a Turkish person of outstanding ability in airline management was offered the position.

However, on his background check, it was revealed that he had worked closely with President Erdovan which got front-page publicity. The gentleman then declined the invitation before his case went to the Home Ministry for security clearance.

We also have an example of a very large Ground Handling Company in India which is working in 8 leading airports of India. In a sensitive area like Ground Handling, security clearance is a dynamic issue which needs continuous evaluation. This brings us to the question of when a country becomes a security risk and how far can we allow security clearance to continue in a dynamic situation.

(This opinion is written by Dr Sanat Kaul Chairman, International Foundation for Aviation, Aerospace and Drones.)