Erdogan extends rule

RECEP Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule has entered its third decade with his victory in Turkiye’s runoff presidential election. He has triumphed in what has been described by his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu as ‘the most unfair election in years’. Kilicdaroglu had promised to put Turkiye on a more democratic path and improve relations with the West. The US and its allies were hoping that the tide would turn in their favour, but now they have no choice but to deal with Erdogan, who has proved to be a tough nut to crack for the West. Amid the Ukraine war, he has been brazenly engaging with Russia; no wonder Russian President Putin was quick to congratulate his ‘dear friend’, attributing Erdogan’s victory to the implementation of an independent foreign policy.

With Turkiye being a formidable regional player, the West faces the challenge of persuading Erdogan to withdraw his objection to Sweden’s NATO membership bid. He has accused Stockholm of being soft on terror groups hostile to Ankara and not doing enough to stop Quran-burning protests. Sweden’s entry into NATO, which has to be unanimously approved by the member states, is critical to the West’s efforts to geopolitically isolate Russia; but this won’t happen as long as Erdogan remains intransigent.

Political continuity in Turkiye doesn’t help India as Erdogan has maintained good relations with China as well as Pakistan. Turkiye was among the notable absentees from the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting held recently in Kashmir. Earlier this year, India had hit out at Turkiye for raking up the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Council, weeks after New Delhi commenced Operation Dost to provide humanitarian aid to the earthquake-hit nation. Both India and Turkiye are aspiring global powers that have Russia as their common ally. They have a lot to gain from each other in economic and strategic terms. The shared interests should spur them to reset their ties.