Some Aspect of Difference of Turkey, Iran and India

Luqman Hma Salih and Mark Johnson | Exclusive to Ekurd.net

The comparison between Turkey and Iran is logical because both have the problem of nationalism and economic. Both countries are at the top in violation of human rights because they practice totalitarian power. Turkey and Iran are in the Middle East that are not unwanted by the United States and Europe. The economics of both are in a worse situation. On the other hand, the comparison between Turkey and India is very important because ethnic cleansing has been carried out by both countries. Ethnic cleansing of the Kurds is implemented by Turkey, but India commits is religious violence and ethnic cleansing against Muslims. Both countries have two very controversial leaders, Narendra Modi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who used demagoguery to cement their power. The economy of both is under pressure even though they always try to progress economically. Both have swiftly increased their part in a trade.

After the victory of the Triple Entente that included Britain, France, and Russia, the Ottoman Empire was divided by the allies in the Treaty of Sevres in August 1920. However, the treaty was rejected by the Turkish nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk which formed the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923, over the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. But the system in Iran resulted in the Islamic revolution. In 1979, the authoritarian, secular Iranian monarchy fell to revolution, an uprising in part by the charisma of the religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. However, Turkey and India came out of breakdowns of two of the biggest empires of the last century, the Ottoman Empire and the British one. In 1947, India gained independence from Britain; India and Pakistan were created through a partition.

Although Turkey’s religion is Sunni Islam and most of its citizens are Turkish, millions of minorities from different ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds also have been living in Turkey. For example, Kurdish, Circassian origin, Bosnians, Albanians, Georgian, and Arabs make up the population of Turkey. These multinationals made the conflict between them throughout history, particularly between Kurds and Turks. Most times Kurds have been discriminated against by Turks. Because of this repression, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) launched a guerrilla war in Southeast Turkey in 1984. Alternatively, Iran is one of the biggest countries in the world has practiced Islamic fundamentalism. Iran’s religion is Shia Islam and 60% of its citizens are Persian. The largest minority ethnic group is the Azeri but they speak a language related to those spoken in Turkey. Iran as Turkey has a problem with 10% of the population that are Kurds. In 1946 until now, the Kurds carried out an armed revolt against the Iranian regime. Also, millions of minorities from different ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds have been living in Iran; for example, Lure, Bloch, and Arabs.

If Turkey compared with India in ethnicity, they have a big similarity. India has multiethnic populations and tensions, and also violence and population transfers at its founding moments. Then in the last 20 or 30 years, India’s conflict in Kashmir. The most dramatic flare-ups of sectarian violence have been between Hindus and Muslims. These include the initial partitioning of Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, their ongoing territorial disputes in Kashmir, and the events at Ayodhya in 1992, Gujarat in 2002, and sporadic violence since then. Although 80% of Indians share a common faith, regional and linguistic groups practice their Hinduism in different ways. However, 14% of Indians are Muslim and 6% Christian and Sikh. But the big difference with Turkey is the Indians speak 325 distinct languages.

Tukey is a theocratic republic, but the government type of Iran is a presidential republic, and India is a Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic. Turkey holds elections for both House of Representatives, that is 600 members of Parliament, and presidential elections together but by two lists. The electoral system in Turkey to elect members of House of Representatives to the Grand National Assembly has a 10% election threshold. But unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles includes 290 seats; 285 members directly elected in single and multi-seat constituencies by two-round vote, and 1 seat each for Zoroastrians, Jews, Assyrian, and Chaldean Christians, Armenians in the north of the country and Armenians.

India’s electoral system closely resembles the British model. Members of Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament is elected directly by voting. This election takes place once in 5 years to elect 543 members for the Parliament. But members of 23 States Legislative Assemblies are elected directly by voting. These are elected from a set of candidates who participate in their respective constituencies. The elected candidates hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the governor. Candidates for Rajya Sabha or the upper house of India’s Parliament are not elected directly by the citizens. Upper house elected by the state parliaments. Turkey’s House of Representatives and the Islamic Consultative Assembly have a unicameral structure, but India’s House of Representatives has a bicameral structure.

Along with the election for the House of Representatives, the Turkish people can elect their president. The president is elected by an absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term. Candidates of the presidency must be members of the Grand National Assembly supported by 20 of its members or nominees by political parties that have attained more than 10 percent of votes in the last legislative election.

Then, the President appoints the Prime Minister. On the other hand, the supreme leader is Iran’s most powerful official, with direct or indirect power over all three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial). He has the final say over all major domestic or foreign policy decisions. The president is elected; he is limited to two consecutive terms with the option of an additional nonconsecutive term. The president’s role, while limited by the supreme leader’s authority, has grown since the constitution was amended in 1989. In India the President is the head of the country and the Prime Minister is the head of the Government.

According to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), Turkey is the 27th largest export economy in the world and was the 52nd most complex economy in 2019. But talking about Iran’s economic problem is not easy especially after 2017. According to the same source. Iran is the 46th largest export economy in the world and the 66th most complex economy. However, India is the 17th largest export economy in the world and the 45th most complex economy. So, for exporting, India performs better than Iran and Turkey. Also, the top export destination of Turkey is Germany, $17.4 billion. The top import origin of Turkey is China, $23 billion. But the top export destination of Iran is China $16.9billion. Also, the top import origin is China $18.4 billion. On the other hand, the top export destination of India in the United States is $44.3 billion. Finally, the top import origin is China $68.8 billion. So, China takes advantage of all the three countries.

Yet, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into Turkey and has rarely reached $1 billion in any one year. The stock of FDI in Turkey was only $300 million in 1971. The top investments in FDI flowed to Turkey, and it grew rapidly from the mid -1980’s, expanding to $1 billion by 1990. It increased to $2.5 billion by 2000. The amount was achieved at $2.7 billion by 2019. But In the 1960s and 1970s, Iran was one of the most attractive destinations for FDI inflow, many countries like U.S., UK, Germany, and Japan had an investment in Iran. (Hajiali) Since the Islamic Revolution 1979, the government’s policy towards FDI inflows was uncertain.

But like other developing countries during the 1990s the government of Iran’s attitude towards FDI changed, and Iran redefined the policy of FDI inflows after fifteen years. Foreign Direct Investment in Iran averaged $2.4 billion from 1998 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of $4.4 billion in 2012. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s latest World Investment Report, displays the volume of FDI in Iran came down by 30% in 2018 to reach $3.48 billion from about $5 billion the year before. (Domestic Economy) FDI in Iran has been hindered by unfavorable or complex operating requirements and by international sanctions.

By contrast, in 1991, FDI was introduced in India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. FDI is a major monetary source for economic growth in India and launched with a baseline of $1 billion in 1990. India is considered a second important destination for foreign investment. The major sectors that attracted FDI are services, telecommunication, construction activities, and computer software and hardware. India received $19.52 billion of foreign investment between 1999–2004. According to the Economic Times, in 2015 India surpassed China and the United States as the top destination for FDI. They attracted investment of $31 billion compared to $28 billion and $27 billion of China and the US.

India, just like China, has an enormous workforce, maybe 20 times higher than Iran and Turkey. So, India has more potential as long as Iran and Turkey keep spending its money on sectarian conflicts and involve themselves in the domestic business of other countries to obtain more power in the Middle East. Particularly, Iran’s economy will never truly benefit from the oil resources. But India has steered thousands of people to information technology, which is a key future career, while Iran has oil resources and big unemployment. Turkey has the same problem.

Luqman Hma Salih, a Kurdish writer and student in the Minnesota State Community and Technical College in USA. Salih is a senior contributing writer for Ekurd.net, see below.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Ekurd.net or its editors.

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