pakistan – turkey relations - Islamabad Policy Research Institute

6 IPRI Factfile
industrial magnate of Bombay, Jinnah was the one who moved the first
resolution which ran as follows:
That considering the long-continued relations between Great
Britain and Turkey, and the moral and material support which,
the former has from time to time extended to the later, and in
view of the fact that Great Britain is the greatest Mahomedan
power in the world, this meeting appeal to the British
Government and trusts that Great Britain will help to preserve
the integrity of Turkey and by her powerful influence help to
keep up the prestige of the Ottoman Empire with which the
sentiments of the Moslem world, both political and religious,
are so deeply and indissolubly tied up.
In his speech Jinnah said that the "Balkan war had stirred up the
Muslims the most." He appealed to both the Muslims and Hindus, who
were present, to pay handsomely for the succour of the widows and the
wounded. He himself contributed Rs. 500/= for this purpose.
Quaid-i-Azam kept close relationship with the Ottoman
representatives in India, especially in Bombay. When on the evening of 19
March 1914 a farewell was arranged in honour of H.E. Halil Halid Bey,
retiring Counsel-General, Jinnah was invited to speak on the occasion. In
proposing toast to the Guest of the evening the Quaid said that the
Mohammedans of India took the greatest pride in the Ottoman Empire
and they showed their sympathy not by words alone but gave practical
effect as was shown in the recent troubles in Turkey. The Quaid assured
His Excellency that the Muslims of India would not hesitate to make any
sacrifice they could to show their love and respect for the great caliphate.
After the institution of caliphate was abolished by the Grand
Turkish National Assembly and Turkey was declared a Republic on 03
March 1924, the Quaid welcomed the new national development in
Turkey which was led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Through various
speeches the Quaid extended his support to Ataturk's new reformist
ideas. This was because the Quaid believed in modernizing the Moslem
world by benefiting from the advanced Western nations. He also believed
that not only the Muslim institutions should be reformed but new social,
educational, cultural, scientific and technological steps should be taken to
strengthen each one of the Muslim nations living in varied historical and
geographical setting in different parts of the world.