Turkey’s Bilal Erdoğan, Mesut Özil strengthen ties with Shibir during Bangladesh visit

The dubious visit by Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan—son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—and former German footballer Mesut Özil to Dhaka University at an event of the Islami Chhatra Shibir-run DUCSU has sparked serious concerns.

The relation between Jamaat-Shibir and the Turkish government and the radical Islamist ruling party is not new, but it reached a new height since the July riots of 2024.

Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Niaz Ahmed Khan, DUCSU VP and Shibir leader Abu Shadik Kayem, and other members of DUCSU were present during the inauguration of the newly-built medical centre with Turkish aid.

Shadik Kayem wrote on his Facebook: “Their presence reflects a friendship between Bangladesh and Türkiye that goes beyond protocol and speaks to genuine human connection. The bond between Bengal and Türkiye is not new. During the Khilafat Movement, Bengalis under British rule stood in solidarity with the Ottoman world. Our literary heritage often imagined a shared civilizational horizon linking our lands and culture.”

The duo also visited the Rohingya camps, amid the rapid deepening of military and ideological ties between Turkey and Bangladesh under the Yunus interim regime’s legacy, now continuing under the new BNP-led government.

On Thursday evening, a convoy carrying the Turkish delegation, including Bilal Erdoğan and Mesut Özil, was involved in a minor road accident on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf regional highway in Ukhiya’s Kutupalong area.

The incident occurred as the group returned from inspecting Rohingya refugee camps. A battery-powered easy-bike (auto-rickshaw) suddenly veered into the path of the lead police escort vehicle in the convoy, resulting in a collision. The easy-bike was severely damaged, and its driver sustained injuries, though no one in the high-profile delegation—including Bilal Erdoğan and Mesut Özil—was harmed. The vehicle was seized, and the group was safely escorted to Cox’s Bazar Airport before departing for Dhaka on a special flight.

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The visit itself raises eyebrows due to its timing and opacity. Bilal Erdoğan led an 11- to 13-member delegation that arrived in Dhaka on a special flight on February 18—hours after Tarique Rahman’s swearing-in as Prime Minister—and proceeded to Cox’s Bazar the next day.

Welcomed at the airport by local officials, including Deputy Commissioner Md. Abdul Mannan and Superintendent of Police A.N.M. Sajedur Rahman, the group met with the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Mohammad Mizanur Rahman for discussions on humanitarian aid, education, and repatriation efforts.

In the camps, they toured TIKA-operated facilities such as the Turkish Field Hospital (Camp 9), Multipurpose Education and Culture Centre (Camp 16), and El Shifa Model Girls School (Camp 5). Özil participated in a friendly football match with Rohingya youths at Madhur Chhara camp, delighting thousands of spectators who chanted his name and mobbed him for selfies and hugs. He scored a goal, presented a trophy styled like the World Cup to the winning team, and later joined an iftar gathering with refugees during Ramadan.

While framed as a humanitarian mission—TIKA has provided health, education, and other support to Rohingyas since 2017—the visit coincides with heightened scrutiny over Turkey’s expanding footprint in Bangladesh. Since the Yunus era began in 2024-2025, bilateral ties have surged in defense and security domains, including authorisations for Turkish security teams to use their own Aselsan-manufactured communication equipment and frequencies during the visit (approved by the Bangladesh Army and Foreign Ministry).

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This reflects broader military cooperation, with deals for Turkish drones, air defense systems, armoured vehicles, and potential joint production facilities—moves that have diversified Bangladesh’s arms sources away from traditional partners and aligned it closer to Ankara’s orbit.

Critics view these developments as part of a troubling pattern of jihadist-adjacent cooperation. Turkey’s ties with Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami (via funding renovations, visits to arms factories, and NGO channels) have intensified under Yunus, with reports of Turkish-backed radical elements promoting “jihadist” activities, including alleged support for groups eyeing anti-India operations in the region.

The Yunus regime’s amendments and policies enabled Islamist resurgence, including armed training demands by allies like the National Citizen Party (NCP), which echoed calls for mandatory youth militarisation and threats against neighbouring India.

Bilal Erdoğan’s low-profile arrival—timed just after the political transition—and the special privileges granted to his security detail (including free visas and unrestricted comms) fuel suspicions that the “humanitarian” cover masks deeper strategic engagement. Özil’s celebrity presence, while generating positive local buzz, distracts from the geopolitical undertones, especially as Turkey positions itself as a patron for radical networks in South Asia.

This episode underscores growing unease: Turkey’s influence, built on military pacts and ideological alignments forged during the Yunus period, risks entrenching external sway over Bangladesh’s security apparatus and potentially exacerbating regional tensions. As the new government navigates these ties, questions linger about whether such visits truly serve Rohingya welfare or advance Ankara’s broader neo-Ottoman ambitions in the region.