{"id":11533,"date":"2022-07-04T04:48:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T04:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/2022\/07\/tr-pak\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T22:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T19:14:14","slug":"turkey-and-pakistan-venues-of-cooperation-and-bones-of-contention-esra-pakin-albayrakoglu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/2022\/07\/turkey-and-pakistan-venues-of-cooperation-and-bones-of-contention-esra-pakin-albayrakoglu\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey and Pakistan; Venues of Cooperation and Bones of Contention – Esra Pakin-Albayrako\u011flu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Turkey\nand Pakistan are brotherly states with time-honoured bilateral relations.\nToday, both are particularly afflicted by refugee and energy issues, which can\nbe alleviated through enhanced dialogue and exchange of expertise. Although\nsome political divides around the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel cloud what\nmight otherwise be a mutually satisfying collaboration, there are more\nadvantages than disadvantages to incentivising the deepening of existing ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugees\nand Energy: The Case of Turkey <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently,\nTurkey\nhosts<\/a> more than 3,5 million Syrian refugees\nand thousands of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of protection of other\nnationalities, mainly from Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. Host\ncommunity hostility<\/a> is rising exponentially,\nparticularly in Turkey\u2019s metropolitan areas. Integration challenges cause\nfurther instability in a country already suffering from socio-economic problems\nmultiplied by COVID-19. Grievances are being exploited by opposition parties against\nthe backdrop of next year\u2019s elections, thus fueling political tensions as well.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nTurkey, much progress has been made in collaboration with the EU and the World\nBank to tackle various issues related to the refugee crisis. Turkey can be a\nrole model if it adeptly manages to build the resilience of impacted communities\nand reconcile refugees and the local population. However, rather than applaud,\nAnkara receives criticism for using refugees as a bargaining tool against the\nEU. Likewise, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (T\u0130KA), which\nallocates huge sums of humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees as part of Official\nDevelopment Assistance, ranks \u201cvery poorly\u201d in the Aid\nTransparency Index 2020<\/a> just above the\nlowest-ranking institution, namely, China\u2019s Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the National\nEnergy Policy of 2017<\/a> and the energy agenda of\nVision 2023, Turkey aims to be a hub in regional energy trade and has\nundertaken various natural gas and oil pipeline projects. Its contribution to\nEurope\u2019s energy security has reached new heights in 2020 with the realisation\nof the Southern Gas Corridor upon completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline\n(TAP). Another priority is to make the most of domestic and renewable energy\nresources. Turkey ranks 5th<\/sup> in Europe and 12th<\/sup> in the\nworld regarding installed capacity in renewable energy. In this vein, Turkey\nalso engages with nuclear power for more independent and environmentally\nfriendly energy production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nTurkey has the fastest-growing energy demand among the OECD members in the past\ntwo decades and ranks second to China in the increase in electricity and\nnatural gas demand around the globe. It still has a 74% import dependency to\nmeet its energy requirements, while the share of renewables in Turkey\u2019s\ninstalled power amounted to only 52% at the beginning of 2021. Additionally, constructing\nand maintaining nuclear plants might create a new form of dependency on Russia,\nJapan, and France, while public concerns about nuclear safety demand urgent\nattention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common\nDenominators and Minor Obstacles in Bilateral Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey\nand Pakistan may share experiences and intelligence to stem the tide of refugees\ncoming from Afghanistan<\/a>. As of January\n2022, approximately 3 million Afghans were living; around 1.4 million were registered\nrefugees. Likewise, Ankara and Islamabad can collaborate on various projects to\nstabilise Afghanistan. This would halt not only the flow of refugees but also\nfuel the productivity of Pakistan\u2019s \u201cVision\nCentral Asia\u201d<\/a>, which requires\ntraversing Afghan soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\nhas recently launched for the first time its National\nSecurity Policy<\/a>, which hinges on\neconomic security through regional connectivity and shared prosperity. It also states\nits intention to enhance space capabilities and information and cyber security.\nTurkey has also embarked on various initiatives to realise the same goals.\nAccordingly, there is ample room for joint projects in its \u201cAsia Anew\nInitiative\u201d framework launched in August 2019 to prioritise economic and trade\ncooperation with Asian partners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly,\nTurkey may be of good help to Pakistan, owing to its strategic partnerships\nwith Central Asian states. Islamabad seeks to tap into the energy resources of its\nneighbours while offering them the shortest route to global sea trade. To\nincorporate Central Asia in the Chinese-Pakistan Economic Corridor of the Belt\nand Road Initiative (BRI), Pakistan may thus boost regional prosperity and\nstability like Turkey\u2019s Middle\nCorridor<\/a> interlinked to the BRI. Turkey can\nbe of help to Pakistan in terms of green energy as well since the majority of BRI\nprojects involving Pakistan feature coal-based activities<\/a>.\nAgainst the backdrop of widening Western sanctions on Russia, Islamabad\u2019s hopes\nof energy cooperation with Moscow in the framework of a multi-billion-dollar southern\ngas pipeline project<\/a> also seem dashed. As Pakistan\nalso aims to increase the share of renewable energy in total power generation\nto 30% by 2030<\/a>,\nTurkey\u2019s assistance to this country, particularly in exploiting its much\nneglected geothermal and hydrocarbon energy resources for heating and cooling\npurposes, can enhance bilateral relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\ncommon denominator between Turkey and Pakistan is separatism and terrorism,\nwhich may complicate refugee and energy issues even further. For its part,\nTurkey has been fighting against the PKK insurgency for decades and ISIS very\nrecently. At the same time, Pakistan is long threatened by Baloch\nseparatism, Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, and ISIS-Khorasan<\/a>.\nAnkara and Islamabad can support each other on international platforms to raise\nawareness and generate understanding for their counterinsurgency and\ncounter-terrorism efforts while exchanging experiences to handle these threats\nmore effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey\nand Pakistan are also very sensitive towards the right-wing Hindutva policy in\nIndia and the Palestinian cause, especially after the Abraham Accords of 2020.\nHowever, there are divergences of opinion regarding Turkey\u2019s support of the\nMuslim Brotherhood (MB) and its recent efforts to normalise relations with\nIsrael. The first issue brings together Pakistan\nand Egypt<\/a>, which recently have declared their intent\nto join forces against the MB and enhance military cooperation. Pakistan\u2019s\ndiversification of military procurement may not bode well for Turkey\u2019s defence\nexports to this country, particularly at a time when Ankara finds it hard to\nmend fences with Cairo. Likewise, Islamabad\ndoes not recognise Israel<\/a> and is\nparticularly irritated by the Indo-Israeli strategic partnership encircling\nPakistan in the northern Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against\nall odds, Turkey and Pakistan have ample capacity and intention for manoeuvring\ntogether. Neither side would allow their respective political sensitivities to\nharm potentially satisfying projects desperately needed during seismic shifts\nin political, economic and health terms. Focusing on transboundary challenges,\nresource scarcities, and related insecurities would bring together Ankara and\nIslamabad to reconcile their differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assoc. Prof. Esra Pakin-Albayrako\u011flu<\/strong>, Bah\u00e7e\u015fehir University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esra Pakin-Albayrako\u011flu holds a BA in American Studies and an MA and PhD in International Relations from Bilkent University, Turkey. She is affiliated with the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bah\u00e7e\u015fehir University. She also serves as Adjunct Lecturer at the National Defense University and guest lecturer at the NATO School. Her areas of expertise are security studies and conflict resolution, concentrating on Turkey and the greater Middle East. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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To cite this work :<\/strong> Esra Albayrako\u011flu \u201c Turkey and Pakistan; Venues of Cooperation and Bones of Contention \u201d, Panorama<\/em>, Online , 04 July 2022, https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/blog\/2022\/07\/04\/tr-pak\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright@UIKPanorama. All on-line and print rights reserved. Opinions expressed in works published by the Panorama<\/em> belongs to the authors alone unless otherwise stated, and do not imply endorsement by the IRCT, Global Academy, or the Editors\/Editorial Board of Panorama. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turkey and Pakistan are brotherly states with time-honoured bilateral relations. Today, both are particularly afflicted by refugee and energy issues, which can be alleviated through enhanced dialogue and exchange of expertise. Although some political divides around the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel cloud what might otherwise be a mutually satisfying collaboration, there are more advantages than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":9163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[506,486],"tags":[656,752,650],"class_list":["post-11533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mena","category-opinion","tag-english","tag-pakistan-en","tag-turkiye"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}