A Word On Turkey

 What I find remarkable is the number of people who remember that Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians during the first world war, or that France carried out a genocide in Algeria. Now, of all times, when the issue of the Syrian revolution has split families and divided opinion throughout the world, somebody decides that Turkey's support of the Syrian revolution is a conspiracy, because at one time in its history the crackpots that overthrew a tyrannical Ottoman empire decided Armenians were not Turkish enough, and that they were conspiring with the European powers.

These same people never thought about mentioning this dark period of Turkey's history when Erdogan stood by the Palestinians of Gaza, nor did they have a problem with Turkey's genocide when it was Assad's best friend. Instead we are reminded that Turkey supported Algeria during the French oppression of the revolution there, conveniently forgetting that the Turkey before Erdogan was very, very, different from the Turkey that considered all Arabs as "dogs" and was desperate to be seen as a European power - in the same way that Turkey after the fall of the Ottomans was very different to what was there before it.

Once again, we are drawn into all manner of accusations, counter-accusations, and the spreading of the lies and dirty laundry of each side. It seems any and every kind of topic is up for discussion now, anything apart from discussing the one thing that is of crucial importance - Assad and his regime must go.

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"Turkey is no longer the sick man of Europe, it is the strong man of the Middle East"

Very interesting. Turkey is covering its bases with the Kurds in Iraq. al Barazani is in Turkey to reiterate the "brotherliness" of the Iraqi (Kurdish) and Turkish people. The timing for this means only one thing. The Israelis have often used the Kurds to put pressure, either on Saddam's Iraq or on Iran. That's nothing new, the Syrians used to do the same until they kicked out Abdullah Ocalan. What can the Turk's offer the Kurds of Northern Iraq? "In" on the new Turkish-Iranian-Syrian trade and co-operation network that is informally being established. If the Kurd's are given the opportunity to make money and prosper (they can't survive as a nation if any or all the neighbouring countries won't allow it) then they'll stop firing rockets at Turkish bases, as happened a few days ago. This means a backdoor for the Americans and the Israelis may be temporarily shut.

The shifting of Turkey eastwards has been happening for sometime but the real test will be to see whether it survives Erdogan's government, or the President of Mr Abdullah Gul. If it does, this will be a worrying setback for America and Israel. But that is doubtful, Erdogan needs more time to cement this promising development and strengthen his ties with Iran and Syria, if he is removed too soon then this could jeopardise the Turkish project. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if somebody tries to assassinate him in the near future, perhaps on a trumped up motive that he is "infringing" Kemalist secularism in the Republic (which he is, but extremely cautiously and slowly). Maybe when this whole flotilla business dies down, two years or three perhaps. But in the meantime Iran and Hezbullah are getting stronger and Syria's position is also becoming cemented as the country you can talk with in the region. This in particular was a project that had been succesfully started by the elder president Assad and patiently nurtured.

In fact it is Hafez al Assad's excellent decision to side with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war, and subsequently to incubate a young Hezbullah in Lebanon, which gave Syria the strategic vision it enjoys today. The post-Hariri fiasco, the 2006 Lebanon war and the successful pressure maintained on the Americans in Iraq following their occupation have all shown that the current president of Syria has made excellent use of this strategic advantage and built on it.

I think the strengthening of ties with an increasingly Muslim Turkey puts another foundation stone in a new strategic vision for the region. This will include Iraq (and the Kurds) when the time is right - I suspect. But all now depends on giving Turkey time to rejoin its Muslim and Eastern neighbours and to regain its historically important position in the region. Today it is Europe which is sick and Turkey is no longer the sick man of Europe, it is the strong man of the Middle East.

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Reflections

My cousin is in the tourism industry and has managed to drag me along to Antalya, on the southern coast of Turkey, due to some business he has here with some Kuwaitis. The flight took us about an hour and we landed yesterday evening, after many delays. Courtesy of the Turkish ministry of tourism I am now staying at a deluxe resort in one of the king size suites till tomorrow evening. Whilst my cousin went around his meetings today, I took the liberty of exploring the place and making use of the facilities. It is very difficult for somebody like me to feel at ease in a place like this, it is far too luxurious and extravagant for my taste, there is something about it which makes me uncomfortable. I think earlier today, I realised why that was the case.

I think Man is always striving to recreate his vision of paradise on earth. At lunch today, I had tender birds meat, all the fruit I could want, and beautiful water lapping gently underneath my feet as I sat in the shade to cool myself from the sun. At the same time, I am constantly reminded of how stunning Russian women can look, I am literally surrounded by leggy, slim and busty beauties. Unlike the boorish women in England and America, there are thankfully much less of those hideous tattoos that are so fashionable - and which make me feel so nauseous - to see. At the same time, the Qur'anic parallel's could not be more striking in my mind as I looked around myself in disbelief. Somehow, this is all not real, as if I was eating sand, and watching the walking dead. In this world there is nothing that is permanent and we should always remind ourselves of this fact, I think I understood today that what will make paradise so beautiful is not all that surrounds those fortunate enough to make it there, but the beauty of those who are there. Wonderful souls that deserve to be there because of all they endured or strived for. Around me I only saw ugly people stuffing their faces - I think that seems a bit extreme now that I re-read what I've written, but I suppose the temptations and enticements surrounding me are themselves extreme, so if I vent off a little here to keep things in perspective then maybe I can be forgiven. Whilst I say what I just have, I act as if it is the most natural thing in the world for me to be here and quickly strike a rapport with whichever beauty I happen to be sharing a jazuzzi or sauna with - truly what a strange situation I find myself in.

I have never felt as lonely and as far away from Allah as I do here, in this place...

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Istanbul

I spent my flight listening to the In Our Time podcast for the seige of Vienna, and then the recording of the Mamno'oon programme from al Jazeera on Saeed al Noursi, so that was a fitting way to begin my trip in Istanbul. It is a strange city, it really is between East and West in so many ways. I was surprised to know that the official weekend is Saturday and Sunday and not Friday. In fact, up until the last ten years, Turkish officialdom was viciously anti-Islamic but things have been improving, especially with the slowly slowly approach taken by Erdogan. Went to one of the castles that the Ottomans built on the Bosphorus to help conquer Constantinople. Amazingly they built that fortress in only about 4 months, in 1452. Their grandeur still lingers around the city. Went to a small mosque near the fort when the time to pray began. There were about six people...but I hear that Friday prayers are absolutely packed in spite of the difficulty of taking time off work.

Went to the market yesterday with an aunt to buy vine leaves so that she could make me some delicious Yabrak (stuffed with rice and cooked with lamb cutlets). The seller asked me in Turkish where I was from, and I told him I was from Syria. He smiled brightly, shook my hand and then he muttered something to me under his breath about Islam and I pretended to understand, nodding my head knowingly. My aunt pretended not to hear as she inspected the leaves. She told me that he said Islam was a magnificent religion. Most of the poor in Turkey are Muslim and very religious. The girls are not aloud to wear a Hejab when they go to University, so what they do is either take it off on campus and then put it on when they leave, or they wear the most awful wigs (on purpose) so that they do not attract attention to themselves. The decadent and seedy club lands of Bodrum which I see on the television seem a world away from the humility of these people. In Mecca, my aunt noticed more people from Turkey around her than there were Arabs.

Finally, the call to prayer in Istanbul is absolutely beautiful, perhaps even more than in Damascus in fact, or maybe it is because I have not heard it in a while. It is so refreshing to come back to a place where I can hear that throughout the day.

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Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has more dignity and outrage for the murder of Arabs and Muslims than the spineless jellyfish we call Arab leaders..

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There is something new and intriguing taking place in Turkey. For the first time in a pro-Palestinian demonstration, I saw Turkish flags on Saturday, in Turkey itself there is increased interest in what is happening in the region and a renewed look East rather than to Europe. Is Turkey finally burying Ataturk?

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"The courts and the military see themselves as guardians of the country's strict separation of religion and politics, which is rooted in the foundation of the modern state in the 1920s from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire."

Translation: They are guardians of the regime which the West imposed over a defeated Turkey after the first world war. Nothing better than the Quisling Iraqi government today, only older. I think the question of headscarves and Islam in Turkey is not about a balance between a secular, "modern" state and a theocracy, it is about whether Turkey can finally overcome it's nationwide complex towards the West and recover from it's defeat in 1918.

It pains me to see that country reduced to this. Did I ever mention that my great grandfather was an Ottoman? We have a painting of him in full uniform with his sword. He was stationed in Damascus for a while, married and had children and was then shipped off to what is now Iraq where he died in a skirmish of some sort. This was in the late 19th century.

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Turkey and secularism (Just don't mention genocide).

One of the ugliest examples of secularism in the Middle East is Turkey, the result of Ataturks' (pictured above with a ridiculous hat) grotesque ideology and obsession with emulating the West. I just hate how some people idolise the man after what he did and it's with some glee that I watch Turkey awaken it's Islamic identity. Nothing has been more humiliating for the Turks than holding their begging bowl at the doors of Europe for so long and then watching a country like Romania whizz past them. Now tell me, if the 'Ottoman' was responsible for the Armenian genocide why are Turkey's 'secularists' (read Young Turks and military establishment) so fanatical about erasing it's memory? In fact, weren't all the genocides of the twentieth century perpetrated by secular governments?

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OK, everyone can relax now, it's been settled: "Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered the closure of all offices belonging to the PKK in Iraq and said they would not be allowed to operate in Iraqi territory."

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Everyone stop what you are doing NOW!

"Baghdad may be unable to stop attacks by PKK fighters"

This is quite shocking considering how successful Baghdad has been in stopping other violence in...Baghdad

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The Times is already starting to refer to the PKK as "rebels":

"Skirmishes between Turkish soldiers and PKK rebels continued on the Turkey-Iraq border region yesterday, claiming the lives of 34 rebels so far, according to the military."

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"The US president, George Bush, yesterday expressed his "deep concern" about the Kurdish rebel attacks, and told Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the United States would continue to urge Iraq's government to act against the PKK rebels, the White House said. "

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Could Turkey be heading for a rapproachment with Syria? Apparently the Turkish President has snubbed a surprise visit from Olmert and received his first official visit from President Assad according to Syria Comment. Watch this space.

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Turkey? Invade northern Iraq? Come to think of it, genocide is a bit too strong a word: "Armenian Genocide vote in doubt"

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I'm watching with interest what is going to happen in northern Iraq. Turkey's MP's have recently authorised military incursions into Iraq, something the Americans definitely do not want. If Iran was indeed behind this, I try to imagine what mind calculated the repercussions of what the PKK have done and how Turkey was going to react, especially at a time when the Americans are banging the war drums loudly against it. The ball is back in America's court now, let's see what they will do.

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A lesson to all those who supported American designs on the region, you are only a friend as long as you are useful :

"Turkey's Prime Minister has threatened an invasion of northern Iraq if, after the Turkish election on Sunday, talks fail with Iraq and the US on curbing the activities of Turkish Kurd guerrillas.

Turkish artillery has been firing increasingly heavy barrages at villages in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan. After three Turkish soldiers were killed and five wounded by a mine laid by PKK guerrillas last week, some 100 shells exploded around the border town of Zakho, forcing residents to flee."

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