New Delhi: Amid strained relations between India and Turkey, the Turkish Ambassador to India, Firat Sunel, has called for mending ties with New Delhi while noting that the Turkey-India relationship, both bilaterally and multilaterally is very good.
"The ties between the two nations are growing in a positive direction”, Sunel told ETV Bharat in an exclusive conversation.
He recalled the participation of the Turkish leaders during the G20 summit hosted by India. Sunel said, “About one dozen Turkish ministers and deputy ministers participated during India's G20 presidency and we use all the opportunity to have a positive cooperation with India. We are focusing more on the positive agenda”.
In recent times, India-Turkish relations have worsened significantly. This is because of Turkey's support to Pakistan on the Kashmir issues. Backing Pakistan’s position, Turkey has opposed India’s abrogation of Article 370, giving Jammu and Kashmir special status.
In 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also tried to draw global focus on the matter by saying that the Kashmir conflict had not received the international community's adequate attention over seven decades. Turkey has also raked up Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Moreover, Turkish President Erdogan visited New Delhi in September last year to attend the G20 summit held under India's G20 presidency. On the sidelines of the G20, he also held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen trade relations and infrastructure connections.
Commenting further on the historical and cultural linkages between India and Turkey, the Turkish envoy pointed out that both countries have many similarities in terms of culture. He recalled that the last cooperation between India and Turkey was during the Kerala Literature Festival in February this year. Turkey was invited as the guest of honour country in Kerala. He further hailed the colourful Indian culture and the contribution made by ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations).
Sunel's remark came during the 75th foundation day of ICCR celebrated with utmost fervour in New Delhi on Tuesday, 9 April. Both IndiGo and Turkish Airlines operate 14 daily flights, including flights from Delhi and Mumbai.
According to sources, besides Istanbul, which takes up 54 per cent of the travel pie, Antalya 11 per cent and Cappadocia contribute 9 per cent of top destinations for Indian travelers.
