Why the world ignored role of Turkiye in Indo-Pak conflict
THE four-day intense standoff between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor was marked by violations and aerial assaults along the International Border, redefining red lines and pushing the two countries to the brink of war. Amid the fog of mounting tensions, an unexpected actor emerged to strengthen the Pakistani hand — Turkiye. Pakistan and Turkiye have long had close relations, with Ankara regularly supporting Islamabad on Kashmir. But this time, the proximity was far more specific, and, more importantly, hostile to India.
With drone warfare becoming a defining feature of the conflict, Ankara's fingerprint on Islamabad's Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos became harder to ignore. Indian military briefings confirmed that Pakistan had launched nearly 400-500 drones into the Indian airspace. As many as 350 of them were reportedly of Turkish origins. They reportedly include Bayraktar TB2, a medium-altitude long-endurance tactical UAV, Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones, and Asisguard Songar-armed drones.
What makes the Turkish role more concerning is the inclusion of the Songar-armed drones in Pakistan's aerial toolkit. Unlike the Bayraktar TB2 or YIHA kamikaze drones, which were recorded in Pakistan's arsenal in 2022 and 2023, respectively, there is no public record of the Songar being transferred to Pakistan. Songar is Turkiye's first indigenously made armed drone system and it has been with the country's military since 2020. Media reports of 2022 suggest the drones were sold to three unnamed countries in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions.
However, publicly available data about Pakistan's UAV inventory does not specifically mention the Songar, suggesting that this sale was likely fast-tracked in the brief window between the April 22 Pahalgam attacks and the May 7 Operation Sindoor launch.
During this period, several interactions between Turkiye and Pakistan were recorded. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was in Turkiye on the day of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. On April 27, as tensions began escalating along the Indo-Pak border, a Turkish C-130 Hercules jet reportedly landed in Karachi. While Turkiye has dismissed it as a routine refuelling stop and categorically denied the use of the plane for sending arms, the timing and parallel Turkish support for Pakistan through this conflict have raised significant doubts. This was followed by the visit of a high-level delegation led by Turkish intelligence chief to the Pakistan air force headquarters on April 30. Finally, the TCG BUYUKADA, a Turkish naval warship, arrived at the Karachi port on May 5 and remained docked till May 7.
These developments suggest that the Turkish support went beyond the symbolic messaging of solidarity from the leadership and was a deliberate effort to bolster Pakistan's military capability and deterrence against India.
However, a report by India Today published after the ceasefire has added a concerning layer to the Turkish involvement. The report, quoting unidentified sources, suggests that two Turkish military operators, who helped Pakistan coordinate drone attacks on India after May 7, were reportedly killed during Operation Sindoor.
While neither Turkiye nor Pakistan have confirmed this, the embedding of Turkish military advisers in a combat operation reveals an alarming edge of their military partnership and compels New Delhi to review Ankara's role in the recent standoff and recalibrate its approach.
Turkiye's ability to bolster Pakistan's military posture without direct accountability reflects a broader involvement in their global engagements. Both countries have managed to straddle competing power blocs for their own interests. Nowhere is this more visible than in the two countries’simultaneous engagements with the US, China and Russia.
Islamabad and Ankara have long leveraged their geographical positioning in South Asia and West Asia to become indispensable assets in varying engagements of these superpower rivals.
Pakistan became a key player for the US in 2001 with its operations in Afghanistan. Since then, the US has provided Pakistan with military equipment, including tanks, surveillance radars, fighter jets, missiles and drones. When the US halted defence sales to Pakistan, China emerged to fill the vacuum. As Islamabad's all-weather ally, Beijing has expanded Pakistan's arsenal with a steady supply of weapons, many of which were used in the recent standoff against India.
Turkiye, a NATO member, is a major American partner in the region, housing strategic American military bases and receiving key military equipment, including fighter jets, tanks, ships and other hardware. At the same time, Turkiye has managed to diversify its military partnerships by getting its hands on the Russian S-400, a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system. Finally, Turkiye is also a member of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and a part of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" route that travels through Central Asia, Iran and Europe.
Due to these parallel engagements, many argue that the US-Turkiye partnership had hit an all-time low, but with Donald Trump back at the White House, this partnership has received a new impetus.
Despite Turkiye's overt role in the Indo-Pak standoff, Washington has reaffirmed its defence ties with Ankara by announcing a $350-million missile sale just days after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. This should definitely be a cause of concern for New Delhi, especially in light of the growing military cooperation between Turkiye and Pakistan.
Operation Sindoor has not only bared the depth of the Turkiye-Pakistan military partnership but also shown that global powers, even while backing India diplomatically, may turn a blind eye to this partnership to suit their own strategic calculi.
Aishwarya Airy is a researcher at Centre for Land Warfare Studies.
