Owaisi Urges Turkey to Reconsider Support for Pakistan, Citing India’s 220 Million Muslims

Owaisi Urges Turkey to Reconsider Support for Pakistan: Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday denounced Turkey's support for Pakistan and asked Ankara to reconsider. This is particularly, given that India has a much larger Muslim population than Pakistan.

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The AIMIM Chief told Turkey not to support Pakistan blindly and duly consider India's historical ties with the country before proceeding.

“Turkey must reconsider its stance of supporting Pakistan, and we must also remind Turkey that there is a bank called Isbank, where earlier depositors included people from India, such as from Hyderabad State and Rampur State. There are many historical connections with India, and you must know that until 1990, the Turkish language was taught in the Ladakh area,” said Owaisi.

Asaduddin said India has more Muslims than Pakistan and also reminded Turkey that northern Turkish pilgrims passed through Ladakh to reach Mumbai for their Hajj.

“Until 1920, people from northern Turkey used to come to Ladakh and then travel to Mumbai to perform Hajj. We must continuously remind Turkey that there are 220 million honourable Muslims living in India. This whole bogey of Pakistan being a Muslim country is misleading. There are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nothing to do with Islam at all,” Asaduddin Owaisi added.

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Calls grow in India to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan

Since Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam attack, there are increasing calls in India for a boycott of Turkey for their support of Pakistan. This has led to cancelled trips, cancelled academic collaborations, and the suspending of the license of Celebi Aviation.

The public criticism, and online protests, have also highlighted India's support of Turkey in the 2023 earthquake and the sole reciprocity of relations. The Indian central government has yet to respond to the issue.

Various Indian universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, and Lovely Professional University (LPU), have begun to suspend or terminate the annual academic collaboration with Turkish and Azerbaijani institutions.

LPU in particular has opted to end all such partnerships as it cited concerns over the diplomatic positions of Turkey and Azerbaijan, who have supported Pakistan, based on recent geopolitical conflicts.

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