TURKEY’S STRATEGIC BLUNDER
By Dr Fereydun Hilmi
Kurdish Media, UK
Sept 26 2006
At the end of the First World War, Kamal Attaturk was able to save
the rump of the Ottoman Empire from British and French occupation.
His springboard point was Anatolia where he was able to persuade the
Kurds in north Kurdistan to join forces with him and reject British
intrigues among them aimed at chipping away further land from what
had remained of the great sick empire.
The British duped the Kurds by first encouraging them to seek
independence and supporting the idea and pouring much money into
Slemanî and the Kurdish parts of Iraq. For nearly 4 years they carried
on establishing a Kurdish administration andarmy and trained them to
protect their areas simply because they were unable to send an army
to do so as a result of their economic troubles and losses in the
occupation of southern and middle Iraq. Kurdistan’s mountains reminded
them of their disadters in Afghanistan and India; in Particular the
difficulties of fighting locals in places like the Khyber Pass.
Therefore they wanted to achieve the same result and prevent the
Turks form reclaiming land which had belonged to the Ottoman Empire
administratively but not subjugated by Turkish army forces. Most of
Kurdistan was ruled by Kurdish proxies with local armed men until
the British arrived in Kifri. Once the local chief Sheikh Mahmud
heard of this he invited the British to come to Slemanî in what he
considered was a card to play against the Ottomans so that he might
have bargained with it.
The British who were aware of this insisted that he should work for
his upkeep and support but his natural instinct was anti-British and
pro-Turkish. Yet Attaturk ignored his approaches and tried instead to
use him in his struggle to save as much of what he considered to be his
national homeland as possible. Sheikh Mahmud and the rest of the Mosul
Wilayet ended up as a juicy bite for the British colonial stomach.
The British who were really only interested in the oil-rich areas
of the Mosul Wilayet easily sacrificed the Kurds of Anatolia and
signed agreements with Turkey exchanging the Mosul Wilayet which they
had sneakily occupied during the armistice just after the war had
stopped. And with that Turkey was cocooned into a hard nationalistic
shell which it was to remain in for nearly a hundred years.
Britain was a tired and economically warn out power who had suffered
along with its French ally greatly at the hands of the Germans. It
was probably as weak and tired as the Turks if not more. Yet, today
Turkey is a third world country while Britain is a super power with a
thriving economy and English is the standard language throughout the
world. Britain and now the United States have fingers in every pie
all around the world while Turkey remained isolated and lacking all
forms of influence in even the closest nations right on its borders.
People five thousand miles away from Britain speak English as a second
language who once spoke Turkish instead.
The Ottoman Empire lasted some six centuries reaching the height of
civilization and scientific progress and many nations such as Kurds,
Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, Albanians and others from the Middle and
Far East, Asia and African nations served to advance its culture and
power throughout a huge chunk of the world and enrich the central
power house at Istanbul. The Turkish people were truly a minority who
started as fighting tribes, adopted Islam and Middle Eastern Culture as
a result of which Anatolia became the home of a huge thriving empire.
All that disappeared because of Attaturk’s Xenophobic attitude towards
all the nations that had helped his race reach the positions they
had. Proof of this lies in the fact that once the Kurds, Armenians,
Greeks and Arabs were alienated Turkey became and remained a poor
mediocre and backward state unable to sustain itself without iys
subservient position within NATO.
Yet, Turkey had a great opportunity throughout the twentieth century
to occupy a better position among these nations than does Britain
and the west. We must remember that the nations surrounding Turkey
practice the same religion, are of a mixture of local races, share
the geography as well as six centuries of togetherness as parts of
the Ottoman Empire. But despite the fact that they shared none of
those characteristics with Britain and the latter’s great physical
distance, it was the west who captured the hearts and minds of the
Middle East nations, not by having their interests at heart but via
many sly and devious methods including tying them up with economic
contracts the greatest benefits of which return to the west.
Western culture has also begun to despise eastern and oriental cultures
to such an extent that they are now treating Islam (the main culture
of some 1.5 billion people) as their grand enemy. This is not just
a feeling or a suspicion but a fact which nobody can deny today.
Unfortunately all that Turkey is offering is more subservience to the
will of its sponsors and denial of its geopolitical position and more
and more copycat culture from the west.
There are those who have been brainwashed into thinking that
civilization and technical progress can only come from the west. If
the Americans or the western nations do not invent it then it is not
possible. Some would even link Japanese and Chinese technology to what
they must have copied from the west easily and conveniently forgetting
that China and the Middle East were the main source of all scientific,
logical and technological advancement in the world.
Science and Technology do not have a nationality or a race while oil,
gas and other natural resources do. Turkey gave up its position as
the most modern capital of eastern culture and became a follower of
the west rather than the leader of the east. It has been struggling
to enter the European and Christian world believing that it is now
destined to exist on the periphery not realizing that it would have
to be and remain a fringe nation deprived of major progress.
In the beginning of the twentieth century my father, uncle and many
other Kurds and Iraqis were educated in Istanbul. I know that their
education was superb and my father also a scientist had a magnificent
command of mathematics and physics. In true ancient Greek style,
they were taught not just science but philosophy, history the arts
and everything worth learning. I was educated in the UK and although
the British education system is superior to many I had to learn all
those other subjects by my self.
Attaturk’s Turkey became isolated from its natural and geopolitical
environment while all around it the British and French were forming
alliances with what should have been Turkey’s historic allies until
all that was left was a small part of Cyprus only because they were
Turks. This deprived Turkey of mutual exchange of wealth, knowledge,
know-how and all other forms of economic ties with the erstwhile
members of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey’s policies towards the Kurds were Britain’s best protection
against the rejuvenation of the nation and the wall which kept it
from Iraq, Syria and the previously united nations of the Ottoman
Empire. Instead of behaving like a sour grape and sulking with hatred
Turkey should have done the exact opposite by revising its old policies
and trying to mend fences – it should have been doing all it could
to keep the borders soft and temporary. It should have extended its
hands to all its Muslim and Middle-Eastern brothers to form a new
alliance (a commonwealth of ex-Ottoman nations) – not alienate them
and isolate itself.
Kurdistan should have been a great ally and a strategic depth for
Turkey and not a sore wound in its side. Yet the Kurd’s struggle has
not stopped for one day simply to gain equality as citizens of the
country. For some reason it seems the Turkish mind does not work as
efficiently on its own and needs the inspiration of the other nations
around them. I believe that the Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Armenians and
optionally Greeks can reclaim the ground by making a complete change
of policy starting from Turkey.
Below I will state a suggestion which I hope the Turkish leadership
will read.
1. Turkey should pass a law completely banning racism in the country
2. Offer the Kurds all rights in the Turkish state and concentrate
on the region which is wealthy as well as lacking of investment
and development.
3. Keep foreign investments in Turkey and in Kurdistan to the minimum
4. Be humane enough to admit mistakes of the Ottomans towards the
Armenians and stop discrimination and persecution against all the
citizens of Turkey 5. Offer a friendly apology for maltreating the
Ottoman nations and promise a new era of brotherhood and equality. It
would be a great gesture of good will if the name of the nation was
changed to a more representative name covering its multinational
nature.
6. Establish the best possible ties with its neighbours, Iran,
a yet-to-be-liberated Iraq and in particular the Kurdish part.
7. Abandon the application to become an unloved and unwanted little
step-brother if Europe. Thus firmly, proudly and unapologetically
placing its foot in Asia 8. Establish the best possible ties with the
Arabs 9. Abandon NATO because its ties with that imperial organisation
preclude it from re-establishing itself as a major Asiatic power.
10. Seek economic contracts with all former members of the Ottoman
Empire 11. Establish universities for the education of African, Asian,
Arab and other citizens of the world who do not have the opportunity
to get western or even local education.
12. Form close ties with Iran which is surviving very well without
any NATOI and EU links.
13. Form the best possible links with the rich and progressive South
American Nations.
14. Completely wrench itself away from supporting the aggressive
and war-like actions of Israel and the Americans 15. Reposition the
political attitude of the country towards the greater good of the
nations of the region and in this way offer Turkey’s own vision of
the Middle East.
It is by far better for Turkey and the Middle East to be masters
of their own decisions than lackeys and sycophantic extras on the
backside of someone else.
The present Government of Turkey seems to have a mindset close to
the above analysis but seems too timid in going all the way. I have
written about Turkish society today in the past on KurdishMedia.com,
in particular about the lack of scientific and technological
advancement evident from the lack of world-renounced inventions,
scientific breakthroughs, music or cultural products. However I am
now offering the above ideas which I believe will return Turkey and
the surrounding nations to their rightful and influential old glory.
All the relevant and necessary requirements and active factors are
available. All we need are the will of a great statesman and the
courage of the nations to follow and endure the painful but sure and
rewarding path.
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