At a time when India's relationship with Turkey is in jeopardy, thanks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's pro-Pakistan stance on the Kashmir issue, an analyst has raised concern about the Turkish paramilitary group's potential involvement in Kashmir.
While Turkey’s deepening involvement in the Indo-Pakistan conflict introduces a new and troubling dimension to the issue, even more worrying is the link between Ankara’s paramilitary structures, such as the controversial SADAT group, and and militant networks operating in South Asia, Amine Ayoub, a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco, says in Ynet News.
He added that though evidence of SADAT's involvement in facilitating foreign fighters in Kashmir remains circumstantial, the reports suggest a deliberate strategy of using proxies to advance Ankara’s geopolitical goals. These actions blur the lines between statecraft and ideological warfare, creating a dangerous precedent for other regional conflicts, Ayoub added.
The analysts believe the Turkey-Pakistan nexus emboldens radical elements that openly call for the destruction of Israel and American interests in the Middle East. "The possibility of a stronger, ideologically driven axis stretching from Pakistan through Turkey and into the Levant should set off alarm bells in capitals from Jerusalem to Washington," he argues.
As for India, SADAT's potential presence cannot be ruled out, as an earlier unconfirmed report claimed that the idea of sending foreign fighters to Kashmir and Palestine against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict was raised during a 2022 meeting organised by SADAT.
"Not only NATO but all the world powers, they said any volunteer, including Americans, you can go to Ukraine, you can fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ukrainian army, and they are called heroes. I endorse that. But my only point is: Are these volunteers going to be allowed to go to Palestine, to go to Kashmir?" said Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, a Kashmiri-born convicted felon who served time in US federal prison, questioned during the meeting.
“Can we ask the world powers why don’t you feel that pain and suffering when it comes from the streets of Palestine or Kashmir?” he added.
Many attendees, including former Pakistani senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood, who was then the federal minister for states and frontier regions, hailed the suggestion.
