On the 2024 World-wide Firepower Index, Bangladesh ranks 37th between a hundred forty five states of the world. In the prior year, the region rated fortyth on the Index, so this is an advancement for the country’s position. In excess of the preceding decade, Bangladesh’s position on the index has regularly enhanced, and this is spelled out by the country’s ongoing military services modernization drive. In this endeavor, numerous protection companions have cooperated with Bangladesh, and Türkiye retains a notable area among these partners.
Historically, the predecessor states of Bangladesh and Türkiye shared intensive political, army, economic and cultural relations. Turkic peoples played an instrumental part in the politics of Bengal among the 13th and 18th centuries. All through the fifteenth century, the Bengal Sultanate developed expansive maritime trade ties with the Ottoman Empire. Bengali Muslims held the Ottoman Empire in significant regard owing to the Ottoman Sultans’ assumption of the Muslim Caliphate. Accordingly, Bengali Muslims enthusiastically participated in the Khilafat Motion in 1919–1922 which sought to oppose the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the Initial Planet War.
Through the Bangladeshi War of Independence in 1971, Türkiye backed Pakistan, but identified Bangladesh’s independence on 22 February 1974 and set up diplomatic relations with Bangladesh in 1976. In the early 2010s, Turkish–Bangladeshi ties had been strained owing to sturdy Turkish opposition to the war crimes trials in Bangladesh. But the ties recovered thanks to staunch Bangladeshi aid for the Turkish governing administration in the wake of the unsuccessful Turkish coup d’etat in 2016 and the vigorous Turkish support for Bangladesh with regard to the Rohingya disaster. At current, Dhaka and Ankara share comprehensive diplomatic ties, Turkish–Bangladeshi bilateral trade amounts to close to $1 billion, and Türkiye has provided Bangladesh with strong diplomatic and humanitarian assistance with regard to the Rohingya refugee crisis. Turkish ‘soft power’ in Bangladesh has also grown in latest decades, mainly owing to the significant level of popularity of Turkish historic drama series in the nation.
Below these conditions, Dhaka and Ankara have created comprehensive army ties, with certain target on the procurement of advanced weaponry, armed service schooling, and technologies transfer. Bangladesh is looking for to modernize its military under Forces Aim 2030, even though Türkiye wishes to broaden the market for its burgeoning protection marketplace. Appropriately, the two international locations have produced a mutually beneficial armed service partnership.
Historical Precedent
Military cooperation between the two countries can be dated back to hundreds of years ago. During the 17th century, shipyards in Chattogram reportedly built an complete fleet of warships for the sprawling Ottoman Navy. Bengali creator and poet Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji served as a volunteer in the All-India Health-related Mission, which delivered health care aid to Ottoman troops in Istanbul (then Constantinople) for the duration of the during the 1st Balkan War (1912–1913). All through the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923), Bengalis elevated cash for the Turkish nationalists to aid their struggle for independence. For this reason, armed forces cooperation concerning the Bengalis and the Turks is a historic phenomenon, which has been revitalized in the 21st century.
With a sturdy military and an highly developed military business, Türkiye ranks 8th on the 2024 World wide Firepower Index. Türkiye exports various sorts of navy products, which includes tanks, infantry preventing cars (IFVs), various launch rocket devices (MLRS), air protection systems, electronic warfare systems, naval vessels, helicopters, and unmanned fight aerial vehicles (UCAVs), to dozens of states. Türkiye also supplies standardized education to army staff from quite a few states, and undertakes joint defense output tasks with other states. Appropriately, Turkish–Bangladeshi defense partnership is generally dependent on a few pillars – procurement of superior weaponry, provision of military services schooling, and prospective customers for technological know-how transfer.
Procurement of Highly developed Weaponry
Bangladeshi military analysts see Turkish-built weapons as reputable, modern day, and rather inexpensive. Considering that the mid-2010s, Bangladesh has imported at the very least 15 styles of navy tools from Turkey. Above the prior many years, Bangladesh has emerged as the 4th greatest sector for Turkish military equipment. The Bangladesh Military presently operates the Turkish-made Otokar Kobra II infantry mobility motor vehicles (IMVs) and mine-resistant ambush-shielded (MRAP) motor vehicles, Otokar Kobra I light-weight armored fighting automobiles (AFVs), RN-94 armored ambulances, TRG-300 Tiger MLRS, TRG-230 surface area-to-area missiles (SSMs), and previous but not the least, Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs. In addition, Bangladesh has ordered ground surveillance radars and a portable jammer from Türkiye. Also, Bangladesh has awarded a agreement to construct offshore patrol vessels for the Bangladesh Coastline Guard (BCG) to the Antalya-dependent Ares Shipyard. Türkiye has also agreed to provide automated guided artillery shells to Bangladesh, and is fascinated in supplying the latter with tanks and helicopters.
Via importing superior armed service machines from Türkiye, Bangladesh is modernizing its armed forces less than the Forces Purpose 2030. Also, the Bangladesh Armed Forces have typically relied on Chinese-built weapons, therefore the infusion of Turkish weapons is encouraging diversify the resources of weapons for them. In addition, Bangladesh is the best troop-contributing nation (TCC) to United Nations (UN) peace operations, and the acquisition of contemporary Turkish military services tools improves the capabilities of Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers. In addition, a selection of Turkish tools, such as Kobra II IFVs, TRG-three hundred Tiger MLRS and Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs, are struggle-analyzed, and so they offer Bangladesh with new operational-tactical and even strategic capabilities.
For instance, Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs have accomplished major combat successes in many battlefields, including Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The medium-altitude extended-stamina (MALE) UCAV has proved notably productive in checking and putting insurgent teams and semi-condition army formations. At current, Bangladesh is facing a minimal-degree insurgency by the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT). Also, Bangladesh’s southeastern neighbour Myanmar is at this time embroiled in a elaborate civil war, and neighboring northeast Indian states are witnessing expanding unrest. In these a situation, Turkish-designed UCAVs can support Bangladesh in working with equally the KNA and the prospective threats coming from the restive neighbouring regions. In addition, these UCAVs can provide Bangladeshi UN peacekeeping contingents with improved reconnaissance and security abilities.
Provision of Armed service Coaching
At present, Türkiye delivers specialized schooling to countless numbers of Bangladeshi military services and safety personnel. Considering the fact that the late 2010s, all-around 3,000 Bangladeshi military officers have received specialized schooling in Turkey. Just after Bangladesh purchased Turkish-manufactured TRG-300 Tiger MLRS, forty one Bangladeshi staff been given training for running the program in Türkiye in 2021. In 2023, 7 teams from the Bangladesh’s Distinctive Stability Force (SSF), the Bangladesh Law enforcement, and the Bangladesh Ansar ended up experienced in Türkiye. So, Türkiye is assisting the system of professionalization of the Bangladeshi military and safety institutions.
Prospective clients for Know-how Transfer
In December 2020, then Turkish Minister of International Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Bangladesh and commented on Türkiye’s interests in joint manufacturing of armed service products and sharing navy technologies with Bangladesh. On many situations, Türkiye has either presented Bnagladesh with military services technological aid or promised to do so. For instance, Türkiye has offered technological assistance to the Bangladesh Device Applications Factory (BMTF) in manufacturing artillery shells. In the meantime, the Khulna Shipyard Minimal is constructing a few diving support boats centered on Turkish designs for the Bangladesh Navy. Also, Türkiye has proposed to supply Bangladesh with the technological know-how to create patrol boats for the Bnagladesh Navy and the BCG.
Bangladesh has a nascent defense marketplace. The escalating instability about Bangladesh’s borders, the routines of insurgent groups inside its territory, and the requirement to protect the country’s sovereign maritime territory necessitate the build-up of the country’s land and air forces and the building of a blue-h2o navy. Appropriately, indigenization of army generation is essential for Dhaka. The acquisition of Turkish military technological innovation would assist the region in building its defense industry even more to meet the ambitions of its armed forces modernization. Also, not every major arms making state is fascinated in technologies transfer, so Türkiye’s supply is a uncommon just one in this regard.
A Mutually Effective Partnership
The emergence of a multipolar globe and the intensification of geopolitical wrestle in the Indo-Pacific region have the potential to make new threats and issues to Bangladesh. The region desires to construct up a potent defensive functionality to deal with these kinds of threats and problems. As a result of the export of sophisticated armed service gear, the coaching of Bangladeshi stability personnel, and the serious and potential transfer of Turkish armed service engineering to Bangladesh, Türkiye is supplying Bangladesh significant support in developing these types of defensive abilities. On the other hand, with its developing financial muscle, Bangladesh is a rewarding industry for the Turkish defense sector. As a result, the mutually effective and in depth Turkish–Bangladeshi defense partnership is possible to proceed continuously and has the opportunity to expand into a total-fledged strategic partnership in the long run.
[Photo of Mahdi Sling, via Wikimedia Commons]
Md. Himel Rahman is a put up-graduate student of Protection Studies at the Section of Global Relations, University of Dhaka, and a freelance analyst on international and strategic affairs. His article content have been revealed on The Diplomat, the South Asian Voices, The Geopolitics, the Eurasia Evaluate, The Dhaka Tribune, The Everyday Observer, and other platforms. The sights and thoughts expressed in this article are all those of the author.
