No delight for Turkey in the US alliance
Imam Alparslan Kuytul, said that Erdogan is being used by the Western powers to co-opt Muslim societies and domesticate their aspirations to end imperialism and establish an Islamic state system. Since the Islamic Awakening in the Middle East, Turkey clearly sided with Washington in order to become the regional hegemon. It’s irrational position on Syria that negates Turkish state interests and its US directed position on Bahrain are one of many such examples.The assessment that Turkey’s Muslim minded AKP is being utilized by Washington to tame the aspirations of Muslims for an Islamic state and society is becoming a widely accepted view in the Muslim world.Several months ago just after Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited post-Mubarak Egypt, one of the influential Sunni scholars of the Islamic movement in Turkey, Imam Alparslan Kuytul, said that Erdogan is being used by the Western powers to co-opt Muslim societies and domesticate their aspirations to end imperialism and establish an Islamic state system.To back his analysis Imam Kuytul reminded his followers that during his visit to Cairo, Erdogan called for the establishment of a secular state in Egypt, a move which according to Imam Kuytul exposed the AKP as a sham. Imam Kuytul states that the main reason Turkey and Arab vassals of Washington are getting so much positive attention from the West is to prop them up as an alternative to the Islamic model in Iran.Analysis provided by Imam Kuytul definitely matches the reality on the ground. Media outlets, charity organizations and Islamic propagation institutions associated with pro-US regimes in the Muslim world function comfortably worldwide. In March 2012 Turkey allowed NATO to deploy radar systems targeting Islamic Iran and its direct assistance to takfiri groups in Syria which like Israel view Islamic Iran as a prime enemy, are just a few of many examples of Ankara’s implementation of the US-Israeli agenda in the Muslim world.The question that confuses some Muslims is why then Turkey trades with Iran and cooled its relations with Israel? The answer lies in understanding that the US realizes that it can no longer install Hosni Mubarak types and have them implement Washington’s agenda in absolute terms. The US government knows that it cannot confront the Islamic aspirations of Muslims with methods from the cold war era. Therefore, Washington aims to co-opt the Islamic Awakening process by its own “Islamic movement.” A process correctly identified by Imam Khomeini in the 1970s as “American Islam” versus the Islam of Prophet Muhammad (saws).Linking Turkish neo-Ottoman aims with Washington’s imperialist agenda is beginning to create serious dilemmas for Ankara. During the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza, the AKP government provided no practical assistance to Palestinians in comparison to its involvement in Syria.Erdogan’s government also cannot implement US sanctions against Islamic Iran on a level Washington wishes because this would severely hurt the economic wellbeing of the Turkish people.The above-cited report by DW goes on: “last year, Iranians founded 590 companies in Turkey - 41 percent more than in 2010, according to Turkey's Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB). With a total of 2,140 businesses, Iranians have become the most important foreign investors in Turkey.”By bandwagoning with the US on strategic issues, the AKP unmasked its Islamic pretence and is no longer a role model for many Islamic organizations. The rise of the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon in Egypt further undermined Washington’s plans to inaugurate the AKP as an acceptable Islamic model. Ankara and other US vassals in the Muslim world are beginning to realize that if they weaken Islamic Iran significantly, they will lose their own value for the US. Also Washington cannot force Turkey to apply more economic pressure on Iran, as this can pull Ankara away from the US.From a strictly worldly perspective, Turkey and other regional US allies are interested in keeping Islamic Iran strong enough in order to extract benefits from Washington. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Ankara will take direct anti-Iranian steps in the near future because the survival of the AKP depends on its relevance to the West as an alternative “Islamic” model to Iran. Without Islamic Iran, the AKP loses its relevance. It is also unlikely that Turkey will deepen diplomatic relations with Israel at this juncture (given Israel’s recent onslaught on Gaza) as this will further undermine its already declining ‘Islamic’ credentials.All of the above indicates that the conflict in Syria will only escalate further as this is the only arena where the West can confront Islamic Iran. The West lost its proxy-wars against Iran in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon; its only hope now is Syria. Just as a Prophetic hadith narrates, Syria will play a crucial role before justice achieves victory over exploitation and the forces of kufr and shirk.