From Turkey with knowledge

I realise the juxtaposition is obvious but, let’s face it, it isexhilarating – this contact, not clash of civilisations. Here is a Muslimprime minister of secular Turkey who claims he has been guided in moments ofpolitical crisis by Lord Krishna’s words. Just as Ram Mohan Roy readRumi.

Having been prime minister of Turkey five times, there have been numerousoccasions when he has had to resort to one of the greatest metaphysicalpoems of all time. Take for instance the sending of Turkish troops to Cyprusin 1974 when he was prime minister. "In the Bhagwat Gita, the politiciansare explained why they should not shy away from taking the stand that theybelieve they should take", a reflective Ecevit told me in his Ankara officelast week. "The politician’s action must be a function of selflessinvolvement, not for individual satisfaction". Turkish intervention inCy-prus, according to him, was to save the Turkish Cypriots from genocideand to abort Enosis or the island’s union with Greece.

Let me clarify one point at this juncture. The Bha-gwat Gita was not a bookhe translated in full for publication. In fact on occasions when he isconfronted with intractable problems, he translates bits of the greatbook.

" I am still translating it for my own self education. It shows me means ofsolving certain political problems. And I keep adding to my translations."Ecevit’s romance with India is not a one-book wonder. An even more abidinginvolvement is with the works of Rabindranath Tagore. In fact histranslation of Tagore’s Geetanjali is now available on the stands inTurkey.

"When I was 16 years old I had come to my parent’s home in Ankara for thevacations. I found that my father and my mother were both reading a bookjointly in an unusually absorbed way. They told me it was a book by Tagore.I too read it and consumed it in a few hours. I went to a bo-okstore to seeif there were other books by Tagore. I found a copy of Geetanjali. I boughtit and decided to translate it. Later when I was working as the Tu-rkishpress attache in London in the 40s, I decided to st-udy Sanskrit andBengali. That made me admire the ae-sthetic structure of Sanskrit and thewarm hearted style of Bengali ".

During his India visit, Ecevit will be able to make his "pilgrimage" toShantiniketan where an honorary degree will be conferred on him. ButEcevit’s fascination for Indian culture, philosophy, the success of India’smultireligious, multicultural, democratic experiment only provides thebackdrop for a visit of great political, strategic and economicsubstance.

For example, Indian Railway may well get a $ 700 million contract, providedTurkish participation in India’s infrastructure development. "At least 40businessmen are accompanying me", he sa ys. "This shows how enthused thebusiness community is about the economic potential of India."

It is India’s primacy in South Asia, the stability of its institutions thatis the driving force now. It is time residual elements in our establishmentshed the prejudices formed during the Cold War when the West confirmed anIslamabad-Tehran-Ankara axis as an additional bulwark against the SovietUnion. (Now even Teheran is beckoning us in a creative new partnership – buton that more later). When General Musharraf turned up in Ankara looking forlegitimacy soon after the coup, he was received but not endorsed. It shouldsurprise nobody that Ecevit has not included any other South Asiandestination in his itinerary.

He feels India’s moderating role in Afghanistan is absolutely essential tostabilise a nation which is contiguous with the oil-rich Central Asianregion. "After the end of the Cold War, the merger of Europe and Asia hadstarted and the US recognised Turkey’s pivotal role in this process. In thecontext of this Euro-Asian process and globalisation, both India and Turkeyare pivotal". He believes there is scope for a "partnership" to deal withthe challenges of globalisation.

"Ataturk saw the strategic importance of encouraging modernisation ofAfghanistan. He sent some of our brightest men to encourage this process inAfghanistan in the 30s. We have to develop a mechanism with India tocontinue the mission started by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and which India, Turkeyand other like minded nations have to resume in a big way for regional andglobal stability.” His anxieties on terrorism are as acute as New Delhi’s.