Bollywood actor Aamir Khan's meeting with Emine Erdogan, wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — called as the "the most dangerous dictator in the world who wants to restore the Ottoman empire" by American politician Tulsi Gabbard and an "autocrat" by US presidential hopeful Joe Biden — has been hugely criticized and condemned from all quarters in India.
Khan met the Turkish first lady at the Huber Mansion, the presidential residence, in Istanbul on Saturday as the entire India was celebrating the 74th Independence Day.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the meeting was requested by Khan, who informed Erdogan about social responsibility projects he has initiated, including the Water Foundation, which he and his wife established to deliver water to drought-stricken areas in India.
"Khan said the first lady is carrying out very important social projects and following humanitarian aid activities, and she congratulated him for his courageous handling of social problems in his films. He said his wife lived a short time in Turkey, leading her to closely socialize with Turks, and the two communities have a lot of similarities as the discussion drew attention to the common family structure in India and Turkey, as well as the similarity of common word roots in the languages of both communities," said the report.
However, Khan, who is said to be looking for locations in Turkey for the shooting of his movie, Laal Singh Chaddha, had to face the wrath of netizens as soon as Emine Erdogan tweeted photos with the Indian actor.
"I had the great pleasure of meeting Aamir Khan, the world-renowned Indian actor, filmmaker, and director, in Istanbul. I was happy to learn that Aamir decided to wrap up the shooting of his latest movie 'Laal Singh Chaddha' in different parts of Turkey. I look forward to it!" she wrote along with pictures in the tweet.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I had the great pleasure of meeting <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aamir_khan</a>, the world-renowned Indian actor, filmmaker, and director, in Istanbul. I was happy to learn that Aamir decided to wrap up the shooting of his latest movie ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ in different parts of Turkey. I look forward to it! <a href="https://t.co/3rSCMmAOMW">pic.twitter.com/3rSCMmAOMW</a></p>
— Emine Erdoğan (@EmineErdogan) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmineErdogan/status/1294684499075366913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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With Ankara openly meddling in India's internal affairs, including abrogation of Article 370, and even being accused of sponsoring jihadists from Kashmir to Kerala, Khan was slammed for meeting 'anti-India elements', that too on August 15.
"So I have been proven right in classifying Aamir Khan as one of the 3 Khan Musketeers?" tweeted Rajya Sabha MP and a former Union Minister, Subramanian Swamy Monday.
A few hours before Swamy's tweet, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had also slammed Khan's meeting with Erdogan.
"Some persons and actors are inclined towards the persons and icons famous for their anti Bharat credentials. An actor's feeling proud of meeting Turkey's first lady indicates so many things," said Alok Kumar, the International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday.
Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi, while insisting that Khan is free to meet anyone, tweeted: "Erdogan is on a mission to become a new self appointed Caliph. He has always been anti-India and Turkey's religious directorate under him is funding extremism in India. Turkey is the biggest invisible threat for us. Erdogan or any of his acquaintances shouldn't be trusted."
Earlier this year, India had severely criticized Turkish President's comments on the communal riots in Delhi. "India right now has become a country where massacres are widespread," the ruthless leader, who is now being referred to as a "mad man" by many in the world, had said.
"I can but only advise the Turkey to refrain from commenting on the internal affairs of India and develop a better understanding of the democratic practices. I also caution them not to encourage cross-border terrorism," Vimarsh Aryan, First Secretary at the permanent mission of India to the UN, had said in a strong reply to the unwarranted comments made by Erdogan.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Aamir Khan who avoided meeting Benjamin Netanyahu, a friend of India, meets Turkish First Lady, Emine Erdogan at a time when Turkey is openly backing Pakistan and cornering India on Kashmir.</p>
Reportedly, Aamir sought the meeting. If true, he has made a very loud statement.
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsYouNotWish/status/1295030874724077573?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Is this hypocrisy? What do you think? <a href="https://t.co/u5H8l9eHD8">https://t.co/u5H8l9eHD8</a></p>
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) <a href="https://twitter.com/vivekagnihotri/status/1295254874523758593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
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With Turkey openly supporting Pakistan's dirty games in Kashmir, it is obvious that Aamir Khan's meeting with Erdogan sent out a wrong message to the countrymen.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Remember Aamir Khan had said India is intolerant in 2015?</p>
Today he shared space with wife of Erdogan under whose watch journalists have been put in jail, FoE has been murdered in daylight and institutions have been Islamised
Scratch a fake liberal, find an Islamist <a href="https://t.co/BeLxubKdql">pic.twitter.com/BeLxubKdql</a>
— Monica (@TrulyMonica) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrulyMonica/status/1295026864671481856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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It is not Khan's first visit to Turkey or his first meeting with the Erdogan family, though. His interaction with the Turkish President in 2017 had also ruffled many feathers.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="ro">President Erdoğan Receives Actor <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aamir_khan</a> at the Presidential Complex. <a href="https://t.co/0u3DGkY5rW">pic.twitter.com/0u3DGkY5rW</a></p>
— Turkish Presidency (@trpresidency) <a href="https://twitter.com/trpresidency/status/916371334573252609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Getting embroiled in controversies isn't something new for the 55-year-old actor.
Five years ago he had publicly expressed "a sense of insecurity and fear" of living in India.
"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says 'Should we move out of India?' That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day," Khan had said during the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards..
