This paper will examine Turkish participation in a series of conferences held in Karachi, Pakistan between 1949 and 1952. The conferences led to the formation of the World Muslim Congress, and Turkish delegates played an important part in the establishment of this organization. The paper will examine the roll of specific individuals such as Ali Fuad Basgil and Omer Riza Dogrul based on the articles they wrote for major newspapers during and after their participation in each conference. Set in the context of larger debates in Turkish society about the relationship of religion to national identity, this analysis will shed light on the important transnational connections between Turks and Muslims in other countries. Given that this period is normally understood in terms of Cold War politics and modernization, it is important to identify religious movements that ultimately provided the foundation for the Islamist politics that came to the fore in the 1990s.