As Pakistan and the Turkish state continue to strengthen their war alliance, it is necessary that those fighting for their freedom also strengthen their alliances at the political, military and diplomatic levels.

By Members of the internationalist commune of Rojava

Groundxero | Feb 23, 2025

On February 12th and 13th, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, in Islamabad, to hold the seventh meeting of the so-called Pakistan-Turkish Council for High-Level Strategic Cooperation (HLSCC). Topics such as defense, security and trade were discussed at this meeting, primarily counter-terrorism. Following the meeting, President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Sharif signed the joint declaration “Deepening, Diversifying, and Institutionalising the Strategic Partnership” between the two countries. The stress on military coordination between the two countries suggests a planned intensification of the oppression of peoples in the region, and especially women, who are continuing to fight for freedom. Based on a common perspective, the strategic alliance is to be strengthened in order to support each other against the backdrop of the shift in power in the region and the increasing global conflicts. In order to properly assess the current significance of the alliance between Pakistan and Turkey, it is necessary to understand the crisis in the Middle East and the position of both states on it.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the Middle East from the Mediterranean to the banks of the Indus has been in a phase of deep upheaval. The precursors of this upheaval began with the American interventions in Iraq in the 1990s. With the fall of the Assad regime in Syria at the end of 2024, this upheaval deepened again. What is emerging from today’s events is a reorganization of the region, which in its extent is similar to the phase that began after the First World War: At that time, the old empires fell apart or were dissolved. Nation states were established everywhere based on the European model. The founding of the Turkish state in 1923 and Pakistan in 1947 also took place against this background. Both states were built on the ideology of a homogeneous nation, in which ethnic and religious diversity is seen as a danger and all decision-making power is centralized in the state.

The power claims of the nation states, which cling to their own power and do not want to submit unconditionally to the plans of imperialism, made reorganization of the region in the interests of the hegemonic powers indispensable against the backdrop of the ongoing wars in the Middle East. This reorganization is therefore also a condition for the development of trade and energy routes in the region planned by the USA and China. Regional powers such as Pakistan and Turkey are trying doggedly to preserve their own power of the past in this mix. Instead of focusing on democratization and internal cohesion, the occupation and oppression of ethnic minorities and women are only being expanded.

History of relations between Turkey and Pakistan

To explain the alliance of these two states solely on the basis of economic interests would be simplistic. Relations between Turkey and Pakistan date back to before the establishment of the two nation-states and were once based on a common religion, Sunni Islam. For example, in the wars waged by the Ottoman Empire against the Allies in World War I, Muslims in India collected financial and medical aid for wounded Ottoman soldiers. After the establishment of the Pakistani state, Turkey was one of the first states to recognize Pakistan’s independence. Again,  Pakistan’s founding fathers described the establishment of the Turkish Republic as an example of a successful independence revolution. The relationship, which had previously been based on solidarity between fellow believers, was turned into one based on power interests on this basis. The establishment of both states on the basis of colonialism and genocide against the religious and ethnic groups native to both states gives an idea of ​​the ideology on which this partnership grew. Another pillar of their relationship is the creation of an alliance against the common competitor Iran.

After decades of economic and political exchanges, the relationship was elevated to a more strategic level in 2009. The Pakistan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) was created to define a strategic focus and give direction to bilateral relations. This council has met six times and is designed to discuss issues such as finance, economy and trade. Since Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power, we have seen a significant intensification of mutual relations. In view of this, it is clear that we cannot speak of a normal trade relationship, but of a relationship based on political and ideological commonalities. Under the ruler Erdogan, the Turkish state is working to expand its influence in the region under the name “New Ottoman Empire”. This has so far resulted in a full-scale war against the Kurdish people inside and outside Turkish territory, as well as the occupation of parts of Iraq and Syria and support for the occupation of Armenian lands by Azerbaijan. Pakistan, on the other hand, is trying to secure its place in the region by making the land and raw materials it controls accessible to other powers. Pakistan is implementing major projects, particularly for the rising superpower China, and is trying to defend them against the people whose land was stolen for them. Pakistan is hoping that this will provide it with support against its historical enemy, India.

The joint war against the freedom of the peoples

One of the most important joint projects on which Turkish-Pakistani relations are focused is “defense”, which means nothing less than war and occupation. In recent years, Turkey has become one of Pakistan’s most important arms suppliers. Since then, Bayraktar war drones and KAAN fighter jets have been delivered, among other things, and the construction of a joint factory to manufacture them is already being planned. This means that both countries are taking a step towards building a joint arms industry. Turkey hoped that the massive use of war drones would enable it to destroy the PKK guerrilla forces. The bombing of civilian infrastructure and the targeted killing of political representatives in north-east Syria were also intended to weaken the autonomous self-administration there. Turkey has not achieved any of its desired goals. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the Pakistani military will increasingly use this technology in the future against the guerrillas and the population in Balochistan, as well as against other democratic and revolutionary forces in Pakistan. The development of a joint arms industry is thus directly directed against liberation movements in the region and aims to maintain a system that is based at its core on violence against women, ethnic cleansing and colonialism.

The alliance of genocide requires a strong counter-project of the peoples

The crisis in which the two regimes find themselves also offers the peoples, who have suffered oppression for many decades, the space to develop their own political projects. The war that these states are waging against the peoples is like the desperate last gasp of a dying animal. The resistance of the peoples can force these regimes to make political concessions because they fear losing their place in the imperialist strategies and thus influence and power. As Pakistan and the Turkish state continue to strengthen their war alliance, it is necessary that those fighting for their freedom also strengthen their alliances at the political, military and diplomatic levels. This does not only apply to the peoples whose land is occupied, such as the Baluchis or Kurds. The entire population of these states is faced with the problem that their governments are banking on war and an economy that is based only on the overexploitation and sale of their own land. Eventually and surely, this will lead to a crisis that will cause deep disruption or even the collapse of states. As much as today’s nation states present themselves as eternal and endless, just as they were created through political and economic interventions, they can also be destroyed by such interventions and the areas on which their borders are currently drawn can be reorganized. But this possibility alone does not mean that a positive development will come about on its own in favour of the oppressed, just as economic crises do not bring about revolution on their own. Everything depends on how well the youth, women and peoples of the region can develop their own model, organize and defend themselves. If they remain without a strong political project and organization, in this phase the people and their lands will once again be at risk of becoming a commodity for hegemonic redivision plans in the region as they have been for the last 100 years since the establishment of the nation states.

Therefore, it is equally necessary to develop an alternative to the crumbling system of regimes and nation states. The system of centralization of power, patriarchy and enforced homogeneity must be countered by a different paradigm. A federal, multi-ethnic model based on women’s freedom can be a way out of the crisis. In such a system, the peoples of the region can unite in peace. To open the way for an alternative for the Middle East that lies beyond the imperial plans of a new division of the region and also beyond the insistence of the regional powers on their sectarian and nationalist politics, Abdullah Öcalan developed the idea of Democratic Middle East con-federation. The different people of the region can administer their land and resources together based on ecological principles that ensure that future generations can also live on and benefit from their motherland. Such a federation should be based on the freedom and equal participation of women, countering the fundamentalist regimes and groups that try to trap the region in a cycle of violence and darkness. Women’s freedom plays a key role in building relations between the people based on peace instead of the state relations built on war, and hence their role is crucial and central to such a revolution.

(The Internationalist Commune of Rojava is part of the Apoist Youth Movement and based in North-East Syria. Internationalists from different parts of the world are organized in the commune. Its members work in the civil society on the ground and build relations with revolutionary and progressive youth movements all over the world.)