Turkey and Malaysia’s principled stand on Kashmir

During Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Islamabad, a joint declaration of the Pakistan-Turkey high-level strategic cooperation council made a specific reference to Kashmir. “The two sides underscored need for resolution of all outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir through a sustained dialogue process and in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions”. Pakistan expressed its deep appreciation for Turkey’s principled stance on the issue as well as its offer for mediation. In his speech to the joint sitting of the Pakistani parliament, Erdogan had asserted that sufferings of Kashmiris had been aggravated by India’s steps taken in recent months. New Delhi was angry over his speech in joint session of the Parliament and stated that “Turkey should develop proper understanding of the facts and stop interfering in internal affairs of other countries”.
Malaysia is another Muslim country that did not yield to immense Indian pressure to retract its position on Kashmir. The Malaysian example clearly shows that nations have to bear costs for upholding norms of justice and protection of human rights of people living under foreign occupation and alien domination. Following the Malaysian Prime Minister’s remarks in October 2019 accusing India of “invading and occupying the country” of Jammu and Kashmir, several Indians were angered and called for Malaysia’s boycott. Indian palm oil importers stopped all purchases from top supplier Malaysia after the government privately urged them to boycott its product following a diplomatic spat. The warning, issued last month, came almost in parallel with New Delhi’s move to restrict imports of refined palm oil and palmolein after Malaysia’s Prime Minister criticized India’s actions in Kashmir and its new citizenship law.
By national sovereignty means the right of the people of a country to choose any form of government and way of life that suits it without any outside interference. However, all concepts of political sovereignty, of national sovereignty, are fictitious if there is no economic independence to go along with them. Therefore independence foreign policy cannot be pursued without a strong and stable economy free from the burden of excessive external debt and heavy dependence on foreign assistance. During world economic crisis many countries faced difficulties and Malaysia was one of those countries. However, it refused to accept any package from the IMF, and came out of the crisis faster than other neighboring countries by pursing its own economic policy.
Turkey has impressive growth as compared with the European countries yet they do not wish to see Turkey in EU’s fold despite the fact they claim that Europe is a continent of diverse people, races and religions united by ideas and ideals. Nevertheless, the European Union members always found some excuse to stall the talks for Turkey’s membership of the EU. In December 2006, some EU members had expressed indignation over Turkey’s refusal to use its ports and harbors for Greek Cypriot traffic. On the other hand Turkey had demanded that EU must lift its trade embargo on Turkey’s northern Cyprus, which appeared to be a genuine demand. The formal talks were initiated in October 2005 about Turkey’s membership of the European Union that foundered when Austria insisted that Turkey should be offered a lesser partnership and not a full membership of the EU because it failed to meet entry criteria.
In 2008, 25 foreign ministers had unanimously decided to suspend eight of the 35 chapters or policy areas into which negotiations were divided, and review Turkey’s compliance annually. But now it looks like as if chapter of Turkey’s entry in the European Union is closed. Turkey’s decades-long bid to join the European Union had a setback, as criticism grew over crackdown following July’s failed coup. On 15 July 2016, a coup d’état was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. The EU parliament had voted on 24th November 2016 to suspend talks with Turkey on European Union membership. In November 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Brussels that Ankara was now ready to go its own way.