Category: Middle East & Africa

  • D. Trump is betraying the United States in favor of Israel and China

    D. Trump is betraying the United States in favor of Israel and China

    Frankly, I believe Trump is deliberately trying to stop the brain drain to America.

    The anti-immigrant movement, strict visa requirements, and deportations for trivial reasons are creating deep anxiety among students, tourists, and those who want to do business with the United States.

    Just a few days ago, they raided Hyundai’s factory.

    For minor paperwork issues or even arbitrary reasons, people were handcuffed from behind as if they were prisoners of war.

    Hyundai even issued a warning for those planning to travel to America.

    As far as I can see, U.S. tourism has also collapsed.

    These are all deliberate obstacles.

    The tariffs are an additional deterrent.

    Even John Deere, a domestic and national American company, decided to move all of its investments to Mexico under pressure.

    Companies operating in the Great Lakes region in cooperation with Canada have been put in a difficult position.

    U.S. companies forced by Washington to relocate their investments from China to India have also run into trouble.

    Trump’s open territorial claims toward Mexico, Canada, Denmark, and Panama have created shock in the Western world.

    His humiliating behavior—such as seating Western leaders below him—or Vice President J.D. Vance wagging his finger and using threatening language against them, are all carefully noted incidents.

    The MAGA movement has been hijacked.

    Zionists have stolen the movement through Trump.

    None of the current actions align with the true agenda of MAGA.

    Even American strategists admit that the higher interests of the United States are being trampled.

    And they all, unfortunately, concede that there is no choice but to bow to the power of the Jewish lobby.

    Trump and his team are deliberately dismantling the Western alliance.

    They are trying to create division and polarization within the U.S.

    They knowingly empower the arguments of Confederates.

    They are intentionally violating the constitutional rights of the united states that make up America.

    They are working to undermine the U.S. judiciary, as well as the military and civil bureaucracy.

    It is as if they are pursuing the doctrine of *Ab Ordo Chaos*—first destroy, then rebuild.

    Every move they make serves only to delay, obstruct, and weaken America’s military and economic confrontation with China—ultimately buying China more power and time.

    Trump is a puppet.

    The oligarchy pulling his strings has already made its decision.

    They will dismantle the U.S. in every sense.

    They will plunder all of its wealth.

    They will exploit America’s military and economic strength to the last drop.

    And once it is completely drained, they will leave it to fend for itself—fractured by endless economic, political, and religious strife.

    They will escape to China.

    For the Zionists, China is now the true homeland.

  • Netanyahu’s recent remarks on the so-called “Armenian genocide” Look in the mirror

    Netanyahu’s recent remarks on the so-called “Armenian genocide” Look in the mirror

    Netanyahu’s recent remarks on the so-called “Armenian genocide”  Look in the mirror 

    Dear Screener: The letter is intended for the editors and key staff members; please forward copies of this message to especially the following personnel:


    1) David Horovitz, Founding Editor
    2) Joshua Davidovich, Deputy Editor
    3) Elie Leshem, Deputy Editor
    4) Gavin Rabinowitz, News Editor
    5) Lazar Berman,  Diplomatic Reporter
    6) Nava Freiberg, Deputy Diplomatic Correspondent.
    7) Sam Sokol, Political Correspondent

    David Horovitz
    cc: Lazar Berman, Nava Freiberg
    The Times of Israel
    September 5, 2025

    Dear Mr. Horovitz and Select Times of Israel Staff Members,

    It was noticed from your “About” page that perhaps a third of the staff originated from, or has had ties with, the United States. A special hello to those of you who are our fellow Americans.

    That same page claimed your publication “seeks to present the news fair-mindedly.” Here is a profound test of whether that is only talk, or if the ones who are reading sincerely care about walking this walk.

    On Aug. 27, both Lazar Berman and Nava Freiberg tackled the news about your leader recognizing the “Armenian genocide.” That phrase was not placed between quotation marks, with both writers making it seem as though this claim was an established fact. Neither they nor their supervising editors had any care as far as whether there was evidence. (It is immoral to make a criminal charge without evidence; anyone at the receiving end knows such charges lead to hatred.)

    In the text of their articles, both authors instructed readers there was no doubt that the Ottomans engaged in a deliberate plan to systematically murder all Armenians. Mr. Berman included “Assyrians and Greeks” as additional victims, because in his and his editors’ prejudiced minds, these are Turks, and Turks love to kill (especially when there is no reason). Never mind historical facts such as how Britain, France, Russia and later Italy had a secret early 1915 treaty to wipe the Ottoman nation off the face of the earth, dividing its territorial riches between themselves. Never mind the bankrupt “Sick Man” barely having the manpower to stave off three superpowers invading on all fronts, let alone to go off and kill  for no reason other than for the love of killing  valuable men needed for the war effort, poor, innocent Christians (most of whom traitorously rebelled, and were fighting on the side of the Allies; the only minority that did not rebel was the Jews).

    At least Ms. Freberg made some attempt to present the so-called “evidence”: “…Nations including France, Germany, Canada, Russia, and the United States have recognized…”—as if the unqualified politicians of these nations had actually taken the time to conduct an honest investigation. For centuries, the “Terrible Turks” have been cast as the stock villains of the West.

    Americans may recall that when the United States finally recognized this hatred-inducing claim in late 2019, it was not out of historical conviction but rather as retribution—directed against Türkiye’s moves in Syria, against Israeli actions in Gaza/Palestine, and based on the perceived notion of an alleged “genocide” against the Kurds.

    Netanyahu’s recent remarks on the so-called “Armenian genocide” come at a time when Israel itself is being accused by international and Israeli diplomats, former prime ministers, Israeli human rights organizations, and scholars of committing genocide against the Palestinians.

    Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated: “What Israel is doing in Gaza is nothing short of extermination, criminal killing of civilians, and an explicit government policy.” He further admitted: “We are committing war crimes.” This context makes it clear why Netanyahu chose to invoke the “Armenian genocide”: not out of sincerity, but as a retaliatory response to Türkiye’s accusations against Israel regarding Gaza. Revenge and get back time.

    Many Jews are Holocaust-fixated, automatically accepting the Armenian claim as the “number two” case, because that is what the corrupt genocide industry, driven by politics and money (certainly not scholarship), has simply “told” them (while ignoring countless cases of inhumanities throughout history; it’s always about the two big cases, and the “by the way” ones, Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur  none of which adheres to the 1948 Genocide Convention’s rules or any one taking the case to the Human rights court or any court of law).

    There seems to be not one among you seeking “to present the news fair-mindedly” who cares about facts, maybe in this case because emotions have clouded your minds. You could pick up The Armenian File by Kamuran Gurun, around since 1985, which makes its case through Turk-despising Western/Armenian sources, as well as the Ottoman archives. The archives, prepared for internal usage (as with any nation’s archives) and not for P.R. purposes, have counted over half-a-million “Turks” systematically exterminated by “innocent” Armenians, from 1914 until the early 1920s. The Armenians also mass-murdered an equal number of Turkic Azerbaijanis. The racist genocide industry never speaks of these cases, obviously considering some humans as more valuable, and less valuable, than other humans. Check out as well Prof. Justin McCarthy’s Death and Exile, around since 1995 (so ignorance cannot be an excuse); Orthodox Christians killed over five million, expunging another five million, in the century ending on 1922. (A toll comparable to the Holocaust, only everybody knows about the Holocaust, and no one knows or cares to know about the extermination of “Turks.”) When Greece invaded in 1919, they mass-murdered over 600,000 in what WWI British propagandist Arnold Toynbee called “A War for Extermination” in The Western Question in Greece and Turkey (1922).

    None of you seem to care that from 1324 until the end of WWII (that’s when the USA took over), the Turkish nation, both Ottoman and Republic, especially during periods when Jews were being hunted down like dogs in many European nations, arguably served as history’s greatest rescuers and protectors of Jews (regarding the Holocaust, often at the risk of their own lives, Turks saved one hundred times more Jews than the 1,200 admirably saved by Oskar Schindler.)

    Here’s the kicker for many of you: when Armenians went about their mad plan to kill non-Armenians (to transform eastern Turkey into “Greater Armenia”), Jews were targeted. The crimes committed by Armenians served as the first systematic extermination against Jews, before the Nazis (whom Armenians happily joined in the 1930s, and during WWII).

    There is no evidence for an “Armenian genocide.” While corrupt “genocide scholars” have made excuses in regard to the following fact, Great Britain (the chief nation hoping to send Turks back to the hell from whence they came, “bag and baggage,” and thus the Turks’ worst enemy) looked under every rock (including the U.S. archives) for almost three years, in preparation for the aborted Malta Tribunal, and they finally had to release their prisoners, given findings as with a July 21, 1921 telegram sent from Washington’s British embassy to Lord Curzon: “I regret to inform your Lordship that there was nothing therein which could be used as evidence against the Turks who are being detained for trial in Malta.”  (British archives, F. O. 371/ 6504/E.8515.) The British even set an Armenian team to scour the Ottoman archives.

    Not only is there no evidence, the factual evidence makes the possibility of an “Armenian genocide” to be null and void. 1,673 of those who had hurt Armenians were taken to trial by the Ottomans in 1915-1916, with ten percent of decided cases punished via execution — the Americans among you may be aware our nation’s Lt. Calley received three days’ imprisonment for My Lai — and many of the rest sentenced to hard labor in shackles, which in itself would make the idea of “genocide” to be inconceivable. (To state the obvious, genocide perpetrators cannot punish their killers.) Even The New York Times lent evidence to this paradox in 1915, although the writer felt the need to describe one of the three Young Turk leaders as a “rebel,” to lessen the risk of invalidating the rest of The Times’ conflicting hate propaganda.

    A 2020 letter from us to the Associated Press, which had at the time made use of one of your biased articles to support their notion of this baseless charge, contained the following: “The Biden letter allowed us to learn the way The Times of Israel has handled itself over the years, a publication which has been particularly zealous in their utilization of hateful ‘Armenian genocide’ propaganda (their page on the subject includes nearly one hundred articles; meanwhile, as just one example, we could not find one syllable written by this ‘race-valuing’ publication on the rare ‘genocide’ that was virtually 100% successful, the elimination of Tasmanians by British-ruled Australians).”

    It’s not as though some of you haven’t heard from us in the past, either. We all make mistakes, certainly, but when the mistake is pointed out and supported by irrefutable facts, what does an honorable person do? A person of honor corrects the record, without delay. Especially if the person is a newsperson, supposedly devoted to nothing but the facts. Yet you have continued to present this vile claim that perpetuates the worst stereotype of them all, the idea of which is to create and foster hatred against Turks and those of Turkish heritage. (What’s the primary negative stereotype against Jews? It’s love of money. That is almost quaint, isn’t it, compared to the love of killing.)

    Beyond the fact that you make for unprofessional news people, it’s also open to question whether any of you are good Jews. Are you aware of the beautiful concept behind Tikkun Olam? When you reinforce this repulsive and evidenceless charge, you express only contempt for repairing the world; instead, you are gleefully choosing to engage in destruction. It’s time for all of you to look in the mirror, in order to conduct some very serious soul-searching. It says a lot about every one of you when you are not bothered by the exceptional evil your publication has been perpetrating — and for so many years — and your consciences permit you to not write the truth about this subject, as if doing so would be sacrilege.

    Sincerely,

    Ibrahim Kurtulus
    Community Activist

  • The Israeli Prime Minister needs to be careful about his statements

    The Israeli Prime Minister needs to be careful about his statements

    For several days, the world media has been circulating the news that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recognized the so-called “Armenian genocide.” It is reported that although Israel has not officially made any decision as a state, Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement to the media that he recognized this “genocide.” Thus, he went down in history as the first head of state/government of Israel to hold such an opinion.

    Commenting on the issue, political commentator Azer Hasret said that the Israeli Prime Minister, with whose state Azerbaijan pays great attention to bilateral relations, should not have made this mistake: “Israel is a close country for Azerbaijan. We value this closeness; when necessary, we take steps together with Israel, and we work jointly to serve mutual interests. Of course, at the same time, both states are free to take any action, but this doesn’t mean that the leaders of the Israeli state/government or individual officials can make statements contrary to our interests. Such an irresponsible approach regarding the baseless claim of the Armenian genocide cannot be considered acceptable for Azerbaijan.”

    Azer Hasret further noted that “the Israeli Prime Minister may link his approach to the tension with brotherly Türkiye. However, the highest official of the Israeli state, which has close relations with Azerbaijan, should not forget that any step taken against Türkiye, any word spoken, is also against Azerbaijan. In this regard, states that value friendship with us, including Israel, should be careful in such matters. We highly value our relations with Israel and are interested in further developing them. However, if Israeli officials make such mistakes in relation to brotherly Türkiye, this will certainly not be well received in Azerbaijan. Such a situation can seriously damage Israel-Azerbaijani relations.”

    The political commentator added that the Israeli prime minister needs to correct his mistake as soon as possible, including eliminating this misbehavior, which upsets Azerbaijan. If this mistake is not corrected, of course, the Azerbaijani public opinion may look for ways to call for a reconsideration of its relationship with Israel.

    “A stone thrown at Türkiye was thrown at us. Every word spoken against Türkiye is considered spoken against us, Azerbaijan. Therefore, Benjamin Netanyahu should show his interest in preserving our relations by correcting his mistake as soon as possible,” Azer Hasret emphasized.

  • Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) / Israel’s Strategic Land Acquisitions

    Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) / Israel’s Strategic Land Acquisitions

    Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) 

    A Warning from History /  Admiral Cihat Yaycı Rings the Alarm on Israel’s Strategic Land Acquisitions in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). 

    On August 22, 2025,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S91PLP5FCzQAdmiral Cihat Yaycı issued a grave warning that must not be dismissed. According to his findings, since 2021, Israeli and Zionist-linked individuals have quietly purchased 6,173 acres of land within the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) an amount equal to approximately 1–2% of TRNC territory. At first glance, this may seem marginal. Yet history teaches us that the most profound territorial transformations often begin with small, seemingly innocuous acquisitions. The Palestinian tragedy stands as the most striking precedent: beginning with incremental land purchases in the early 20th century, Zionist movements gradually established a territorial foothold which, step by step, culminated in the displacement of an indigenous population and the creation of new geopolitical realities.

    Admiral Yaycı is not engaging in conjecture but presenting a strategic analysis consistent with patterns observed in the past century. His assessment highlights that the acquisition of land in Cyprus is not a benign economic investment, but rather a long-term geopolitical stratagem aimed at altering the demographic, territorial, and political balance of the island. The warning echoes the very tactics employed in Palestine—incremental land purchases, disguised as private transactions, that over time result in demographic domination and territorial displacement. Lest take a look at the Geopolitical Chessboard: Why Cyprus? The question arises: why would Israel prioritize Cyprus, particularly the TRNC? Admiral Yaycı provides the answer. Cyprus is not merely an island—it is a strategic naval, intelligence, and energy hub at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Israel recognizes that Türkiye and the TRNC stand as the primary obstacles to its regional designs. Türkiye’s UAV and UCAV technologies, growing missile capabilities, intelligence infrastructures, and its nuclear power initiatives represent a formidable counterweight to Israeli strategic interests.

    Israel’s geopolitical maneuvering has already been evident in the Eastern Mediterranean gas disputes, where it aligned with Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCASC). This triangular alignment is not coincidental but part of a broader containment strategy aimed at limiting Türkiye’s influence in the region. By embedding itself through land purchases in the TRNC, Israel extends its leverage into the very heart of the island, giving itself future claims and logistical advantages.

     Cross-References: Admiral Yaycı’s Consistent Warnings : Admiral Cihat Yaycı’s analyses over the last five years provide a consistent body of warnings regarding Israel’s long-term designs: In 2020, he warned that Israel’s expanding intelligence footprint in Cyprus, in cooperation with Greece, was part of a broader effort to surround Türkiye’s maritime jurisdiction zones (Mavi Vatan). In 2021, Yaycı documented Israel’s increasing maritime patrols and naval exercises with Greece and Southern Cyprus as preparatory steps for long-term presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2022, he underlined Israel’s covert strategy of land acquisitions in key maritime and aerial logistics zones, foreshadowing the very revelation he has now made public. In 2023 and 2024, Yaycı repeatedly drew attention to the Andreas Papandreou Air Base in Paphos, warning that if Israel were to establish a permanent presence there, it would represent a direct military threat to both Türkiye and the TRNC. Now, in 2025, his revelations confirm the trajectory he has been charting for years: Israel is not acting spontaneously, but following a calculated, multi-decade strategy designed to weaken Türkiye’s regional standing and potentially alter the status of the TRNC.

     Echoes of Concern from the Greek Cypriot Administration has expressed unease at the scale of Israeli land acquisitions. Several political figures in Southern Cyprus have warned that the influx of Israeli capital is creating imbalances in real estate and ownership patterns, particularly in coastal and strategic areas. This suggests that concerns are not limited to the Turkish side of the island; rather, they reveal a broader recognition that Cyprus itself risks becoming a pawn in a wider Zionist-Israeli geostrategic agenda.

     Let’s look at the Legal and Strategic Imperative The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee an internationally binding agreement signed by Türkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom provides Türkiye with both the right and obligation to intervene in order to safeguard the territorial integrity and balance of the island. This treaty is not a historical relic; it remains in force and must now serve as a legal instrumant and strategic shield. Türkiye, as a guarantoor power, must recognize that land acquisition on this scale is not a simple commercial activity, but a creeping annexation by stealth.

     Thus far, Türkiye and the TRNC have taken steps to monitor and regulate property transfers, yet Admiral Yaycı’s revelatians underscore that current measures are insufficient. Immediate, additional steps must include: Imposing stricter land purchase regulations that prevent foreign ownership in critical strategic zones or location on the Northern side. Launching a full land registry audit to trace the origins of acquisitions since 2020.Diplomatic engagement with third parties to expose the longterm risks of Israeli encroachment. Strengthening military and intelligence cooperation between Türkiye and the TRNC to counter potential foreign militarization.

     A Final Warning  by Admiral Yaycı’s words resonate with the gravity of historical memory: what occurred in Palestine must not be allowed to repeat itself in Cyprus. The TRNC cannot afford to underestimate the implications of incremental land sales that, once accumulated, may lay the groundwork for political, demographic, and territorial claims in the future. Türkiye today is not the Türkiye of a century ago. As Admiral Yaycı rightly states, this is not Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, or any other state vulnerable to foreign manipulation. Türkiye has the capacity, strength, and legitimacy to act decisively. But action must come not tomorrow, nor in distant years, but today.

    If left unaddressed, this gradual strategy threatens to turn Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)  into a new epicenter of crisis a “slow motion annexation” that, in hindsight, will appear painfully obvioous. The warnings sounded by Admiral Cihat Yaycı must not be dismissed in Ankara as if they were minor concerns now I write about , similar to how we have seen the voices  ignored in matters such as the lack of community engagement ,lack of communication, vis text message or email or other under what many  and a quite majority consider the most ineffective worst Consulate General of the Republic of Türkiye in New York in the past 35 years. Returning to the heart of the issue: the question is no longer whether Israel is purchasing land in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)  the evidence is undeniable. 

    The pressing question is whether Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will act with more boldness, urgency, and decisiveness required to halt this process before it is irreversibly too late.

    Ibrahim Kurtulus 

    Community Activist  

  • Turkey on the Path to the “Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria Syndrome”

    Turkey on the Path to the “Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria Syndrome”

    Turkey, deliberately pushed into an “Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria Syndrome” by the ruling political forces and their American partners, is increasingly moving away from the fundamental pillars of the secular, laicist Republic and the state doctrine of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Atatürk envisioned a modern state, independent of origin, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.

    The fact that U.S. support and the courting of Islamists represent a fundamental and massive issue for European security architecture is still not widely understood within the EU.

    It is no coincidence that in March 2025, U.S. President Trump appointed Thomas J. Barrack as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, who publicly promoted the religion-based legal order of the “Millet system” – an Ottoman-era framework that governed political leadership based on ethnicity and religion – as a model for the entire region.

    “Divide et impera” – divide and rule – is the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy, whether in the Ukraine conflict, the Middle East, or Turkey. Henchmen, opportunists, and accomplices of this disastrous imperialist policy are plentiful – in the EU, in Turkey, in the Arab world, and in Latin America. Remote-controlled statesmen and their political cabinets, Islamists in pinstripe suits, or former murderers and terrorists – who are suddenly and transparently declared as respectable politicians and Western interlocutors – lay the groundwork for the sellout of their own countries (while enriching themselves and their corrupt circles), and are the reason why millions are forced to flee.

    Who ends up dealing with the refugees and the negative consequences of these developments? The EU and its member states – to varying degrees and with different national implications.

    U.S. policy has repeatedly demonstrated – both in the past and present – where its loyalties lie and its willingness to finance and arm Umayyad-Sunni clerical Islamists. This U.S. state doctrine is a root cause of many of the conflicts and wars that are the result of a mix of ignorance and calculated strategy.

    Something is brewing on Europe’s doorstep – in Turkey – that will, in the foreseeable future, crystallize into a massive security disaster for us Europeans. A concrete example from Turkey:

    Under the guise of peace negotiations orchestrated by U.S. policymakers, discussions have taken place with the ruling AKP, the far-right MHP, the clerical-fascist SP, and the Kurdish terrorist organization PKK. At their core, these negotiations aim to transform Turkey into a federal system, fragmented along ethnic and religious lines.

    A statement by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) – “The President should have two deputies, one Kurdish and one Alevi” – has caused political tension and indicates the direction things are heading. Dividing Turkey along ethnic and religious lines paves the way for the Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria Syndrome. This will have serious consequences for Europe’s security structure and our societies.

    What happened before the Alevi initiative within the police?

    Journalist Tolga Şardan wrote in his T24 column that after Ali Yerlikaya took office as Minister of the Interior, a decree was issued that removed several Alevi provincial police chiefs from their posts.

    Regular readers of Büyüteç (“Magnifying Glass”) had already learned about the debate over an “Alevi Initiative” triggered by Bahçeli’s statements on June 20.

    Since then, a sense of anxious anticipation has spread within the Alevi community. At a time when the idea of a “terror-free” country was being strongly emphasized, the debate resonated widely within both the AKP and MHP.

    The most significant statement so far came from MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli.

    Bahçeli’s claim – picked up by journalist İsmail Saymaz – that “one of the vice presidents should be Kurdish and the other Alevi” sparked an unexpected public reaction. Some viewed it as a step toward the “Lebanonization” of the country. Supporters of this view see Bahçeli’s proposal as an official acknowledgment of an ethno-religious division.

    In response to the criticism, Bahçeli stated:

    “At a time when Turkey is progressing step by step, the idea was considered that one of the vice presidents could be Alevi and the other Kurdish. Associating this with Lebanon is a distortion and deliberate misdirection!”

    But beyond the “Lebanon aspect,” the real question remains:

    To what extent are appointments in the state apparatus based on merit (loyalty vs. qualification)?

    Let’s be honest: If appointments were truly based on merit, Bahçeli’s proposal wouldn’t even be necessary. It wouldn’t matter what worldview, religion, denomination, or ethnic background someone has.

    Let me now give a revealing recent example of what has already occurred on this path.

    The institution in question – as you might suspect – is the police force.

    After the 2023 elections, Ali Yerlikaya took office as Minister of the Interior and issued a sweeping decree replacing many provincial police chiefs appointed by his predecessor. Among them were four Alevis. While some chiefs were simply reassigned, these four Alevis were directly recalled to the ministry (“sidelined”). Yerlikaya’s aim was to replace the heavily criticized personnel associated with his predecessor Süleyman Soylu. He largely succeeded – many of Soylu’s affiliates lost their positions. However, the four Alevi chiefs were not part of Soylu’s inner circle. On the contrary, they were known within the police force for their competence and integrity.

    They belonged to the group that the government turned to after the December 17–25, 2013 corruption scandal, asking them: “Help us rid ourselves of the Gülen movement.” These officers were also loyal to Atatürk’s principles. Yet, because they were appointed during Soylu’s tenure, they were wrongly lumped in with his faction. Currently, there is not a single Alevi provincial police chief left.

    And it didn’t stop there:

    Among the foreign police liaison officers during the Soylu era, there were also three Alevis. After returning to Turkey – along with other attachés – only these three Alevi officers were treated differently and not reassigned to new international posts like their colleagues. They reported their legitimate complaints to senior management.

    Eventually, they – along with other “recalled” Alevi officers – were reassigned to the same department, the Inspection Board (Teftiş Kurulu).

    Even if the police leadership won’t admit it publicly – this is the reality. One would have hoped that the MHP leadership would have stood up for these police officers – even before the talk of an Alevi initiative. That they would have advocated for appointments based on merit, regardless of denomination or worldview. But the MHP apparently preferred to support officials with questionable pasts – even those under judicial investigation – instead of defending the rights of capable Alevi officers.

    After Soylu, Yerlikaya is now also surrounded by MHP-affiliated actors who clearly influence him. So if an Alevi initiative is being discussed and Bahçeli is following developments, then the MHP leadership should lead the way in implementing genuine performance-based fairness (loyalty vs. competence).

    Only in this way can positions be assigned to capable individuals, regardless of religious or ethnic background. The same, by the way, applies to the AKP.

  • Storm Brewing on Europe’s Borders: Turkey on the Road to the Afghanistan‑Lebanon‑Syria Syndrome

    Storm Brewing on Europe’s Borders: Turkey on the Road to the Afghanistan‑Lebanon‑Syria Syndrome

    Europe is facing mounting challenges at its borders as Turkey increasingly adopts policies reminiscent of those seen in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Syria—a trend that threatens to destabilize the region and strain Europe’s migration and security strategies.

    In recent years, Turkey has transitioned from being a transit country for refugees to becoming a destination, and increasingly, a source. The once-promoted refugee processing hub along its borders with Greece, Bulgaria, and elsewhere is morphing into an overwhelmed containment zone. With growing migration pressure from neighboring conflict zones—Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan—Turkey’s capacity to act as an effective buffer is eroding.

    Like Afghanistan, which became a failed state unable to control its borders; like Lebanon, burdened by Syrian refugees to the breaking point; and like Syria itself, torn apart by conflict and unable to prevent mass displacement—Turkey risks becoming a similar epicenter of chaos. Its military operations in northern Syria, its tightening authoritarianism, and weakened ties with the EU meanwhile deepen political divisions across the continent.

    Europe, dependent on cooperation with Ankara on migration management, finds itself in a precarious position. European leaders once hoped that funds, agreements, and political incentives would stabilize the situation. But as Turkey drifts away from EU norms—especially in democracy, rule of law, and human rights—trust collapses, and migration control cooperation becomes increasingly transactional and fragile.

    If the trajectory continues, what lies ahead is no longer merely a bilateral pressure point, but the emergence of a regional corridor of instability—from Syria through Turkey into Europe. Relief cannot be achieved through external agreements alone; it requires new political thinking—on migration, on regional security partnerships, and on restoring democratic frameworks within Turkey itself, or at least accountabilities.

    Unless Europe rethinks and rebuilds its engagement strategy—not just transactional refugee deals but broader commitments to regional stabilization and democratic resilience—this evolving “Turkey Syndrome” may soon overshadow the crises of Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Syria. And the consequences could ultimately land on Europe’s own shores.