Pakistan Has Choice Whether to Become Turkiye or Myanmar: Imran Khan
ousted PM said the country is left with two choices -- either follow Turkiye or become another Myanmar.
Lahore : Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan urged his compatriots on Monday not to let the country descend into a scenario similar to Myanmar, warning that the country is at a crossroads where it can become Myanmar or resist like Türkiye.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, who is facing graft allegations and is under fire from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led federal administration, was alluding to the military’s evident participation in political decisions.
The former prime minister said the country is at a crossroads where it could become another military-controlled country like Myanmar or follow Türkiye, which thwarted a military coup attempt in July 2016.
Myanmar, which has been under authoritarian military rule for several decades, except for a brief period of partial democracy in 2011, fell back into the hands of the junta when the Southeast Asian country’s top commanders led a putsch in February 2021, detaining then-state counsellor (equivalent to prime minister) Aung San Suu Kyi. She is presently imprisoned after being convicted on numerous corruption charges.
On July 15, 2016, a part of the Turkish military began a planned operation in several major cities to overthrow the government and remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, marking the fourth coup attempt in the country’s political history since 1960. People, however, fought, and with the aid of loyalist soldiers and police, they thwarted the coup attempt in a matter of hours.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by SAC staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
![Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, says the country believes in constructive dialogue with the US [Courtesy of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs]](https://southasiancorrespondent.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/pak-1-390x220.jpg)
