{"id":36982,"date":"2011-07-02T20:37:11","date_gmt":"2011-07-02T17:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=36982"},"modified":"2023-04-04T10:04:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T07:04:11","slug":"turkish-illusion-prone-to-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2011\/07\/02\/turkish-illusion-prone-to-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish Illusion Prone To Collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"PARTNERS | BEIRUT (LEBANON)\u00a0| 21 JUNE 2011<\/p>\n

Editorial: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Turkish illusion prone to collapse<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neo-Ottomanism is the promotional cover chosen by the Justice and Development party to address the Arabs. By doing so it combined two ideas, the first being the symbolism of the cultural Islamic bind between the Turks and the Arabs and the second being the yearning for a Turkish role that dominates the Arab reality. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>The first idea was primarily embodied by the Turkish people through their live interaction with the struggles of the Arab resistance in the face of Israel and the emergence of a political and cultural environment inside of Turkey against Zionism and its hostility during the last few years. This imposed itself on the Justice and Development Party which was surpassed by numerous Turkish sides and parties in terms of their heated positions and the size of their initiatives. Therefore, the Justice and Development party was described as being the one with the least drastic positions, taking into consideration the pulse of the street on one hand and the Turkish strategic commitments that are guaranteed by the army command towards the United States and Israel. Consequently, the policy of the party remained linked to the reference of the alliance with Washington and the membership in NATO, and continued to be limited to a political opposition of Israel\u2019s obstruction of the settlement projects in the region.<\/p>\n

As for the second idea, it recently surfaced through the eagerness of the Justice and Development party\u2019s command to acquire an American assignment to manage important Arab files, based on its leading position in the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and the political adoption of the Turkish model as a basis for the renewal of the political structure of the Arab regimes.<\/p>\n

This recipe is being tested in Egypt but it is clear that the Turkish wager on seeing it tested in Syria is obstructed by the fact that the Syrian Arab army is a national pan-Arab army in which there is no room for American and Western influence, as opposed to the situation in both Turkey and Egypt.<\/p>\n

The Turkish wager is also being obstructed by the fact that the Egyptian MB\u2019s commitment to the protection of Camp David will probably not be able to guarantee this agreement\u2019s survival in the face of the mounting popular action of the youth that is invading the ranks of the MB itself and calling for the closing of the Israeli embassy and the toppling of the agreement of shame.<\/p>\n

News analysis: Syria and the American September<\/strong><\/p>\n

The West led by the United States is proceeding with its campaign against Syria under the headline of condemning the use of violence in the oppression of peaceful demonstrations. Consequently, the Western governments are adopting measures aiming at blockading Syria under this pretext.<\/p>\n

Firstly: The assumption that we are in the presence of peaceful demonstrations organized by political forces that are opposed to the rule in Syria – or are expressing a spontaneous rejection of social and political realties on the domestic arena – can no longer explain the course of events following the developments witnessed during the last few weeks, and after a number of Syrian oppositionists abroad who enjoy credibility within the Western circles recognized the existence of an armed activity undertaken by oppositionist factions that committed murder in a number of Syrian areas.<\/p>\n

Secondly: For a national centralized state to deter any armed rebellion or terrorist violence \u2013 being called for by the Takfiris in Syria on sectarian and denominational bases – is one of the simplest sovereign rights of the states and authorities and is even an obligation in light of such circumstances.<\/p>\n

Thirdly: It is clear based on the above that the West which is depleting all the pressure tools against Syria is facing a major strategic problem in moving towards a new stage that would open the door before direct interference. This problem is due to two factors, the first being Syria\u2019s regional and international status and the Russian and Chinese positions that are refusing to collaborate with the West at the Security Council, and the second being the inability of the Syrian opposition groups to impose their control over any border regions in order to establish a bridge for foreign interference and repeat the Libyan model in Benghazi no Syrian soil, despite the deployment of massive financial, military, media and intelligence capabilities for that purpose.
\nThe Western determination to subjugate Syria is ongoing and the testing of different forms and levels of interference is proceeding and will probably continue during the next few months, considering that September constitutes an American time ceiling to face more than one event in the region, all of which intersect with the Syrian issue.<\/p>\n

The Arab file<\/h3>\n

Syria<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Return of stability to Jisr al-Shughour and the lifting of the largest Syrian flag in a pro-Assad demonstration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Units from the Syrian Arab army cleansed the city of Jisr al-Shughour and its surrounding from the armed terrorist organizations that terrorized the population, attacked public and private property and spread destruction and corruption throughout the city. In the meantime, twelve martyrs from the security forces were found in a mass grave after they were brutally killed by the elements of the terrorist organizations. Media outlets took pictures of this crime and the horrors that were committed by these elements who mutilated the corpses and severed the heads and limbs of the security elements. One of those who participated in the latter massacre also admitted that he, along with others, raped several women, killed them and threw their bodies in Al-Assi River.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Thousands of young Syrian men and women – with the participation of hundreds of thousands of civil, youth and popular actors – raised the largest Syrian flag that was 2300 meters long and 18 meters wide to end the voluntary campaign launched by Syria\u2019s youth under the headline \u201craise the biggest Syrian flag with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during his meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Youssef Ben Alwi he was confident \u201cin the ability of the Syrians to exit the crisis stronger and more unified than ever before.\u201d For his part, Ben Alwi confirmed \u201cthe total support of all the ongoing reforms in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Egypt arrests officer in Mossad<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Egyptian security apparatus arrested an officer in the Israeli Mossad who held dangerous and important secrets affecting the country\u2019s national security in the second case of espionage to be exposed following the eruption of the January 25 revolution. According to the investigations, the security bodies were able to arrest the accused in a famous hotel in the capital. He had a laptop and three mobile phones that contained important and secret information about the country. The investigations added that the accused tried to recruit a number of Egyptians in order to acquire information affecting the country\u2019s security, political, economic and social situation following the revolution. But also to follow a number of issues that have recently emerged in Egypt, namely the rise of the Islamists, the sectarian strife cases and the problems of the Copts.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Insecurity in Egypt threatens elections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asharq al-Awsat<\/em> newspaper reported that the invasion by the Ittihad of Alexandria supporters of the field after their team lost a soccer game against Wadi Degla FC renewed fears over insecurity in the country. It added that the spectators invaded the field and attacked the players of their own team, thus forcing all the players to flee the stadium, assuring that clashes ensued between the police and the supporters and caused the injuring of twenty people, including 12 policemen. The paper then quoted an Egyptian journalist and a former police officer as saying in this regard: \u201cThese incidents reflect the state of insecurity prevailing over the country.\u201d For his part, General Mohammad Kaderi Sa\u2019id, a security expert at Al-Ahram Strategic Studies Center confirmed that the situation in the soccer stadiums reflected the entire security situation in Egypt, adding: \u201cOur country has witnessed a revolution. But the outcome has not yet been seen on the ground and this is provoking the Egyptians\u2019 frustration that is being evacuated in the stadiums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Libya<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 The battles continued between the Libyan rebels and the brigades of Colonel Muammar Kaddafi in the Western parts of the Jamahiriya, and the rebels were able to gain control over a number of regions after Kaddafi\u2019s Brigades withdrew from them. In the meantime, NATO\u2019s aircrafts continued to bomb Tripoli\u2019s suburbs, including the Mitiga international airport. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Africa to pressure Kaddafi to announce a ceasefire and step down.<\/p>\n

\u2022 On the other hand, Kaddafi\u2019s son, Sayf al-Islam, announced his father\u2019s willingness to organize elections within three months under the supervision of international monitors.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Libyan television aired an audio message by Kaddafi in which he pledged to defeat the coalition that is led by NATO and is trying to remove him from power. Al-Kaddafi said: \u201cThey will be defeated. NATO will definitely be defeated. They will flee for their lives.\u201d Kaddafi concluded: \u201cLet them hit us with an atomic bomb. We are in our country. We did not invade or attack them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yemen<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Collapse of truce in Yemen<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Yemeni opposition met with Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and a number of senior state officials and agreed over the appeasement of the situation and the continuation of the talks.
\nBut a few hours later, the truce collapsed and the armed confrontations were renewed between the forces that are loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh and the armed men supporting the youth revolution, thus resulting in the fall of several dead and wounded.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In the meantime, conflicting reports emerged in regard to Saleh\u2019s upcoming step. Indeed, while a Saudi official assured that Saleh will not be returning to Yemen, sources close to the president confirmed his imminent return to the country.<\/p>\n

Palestine<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Israeli threat to cancel all the agreements signed with the Palestinians<\/strong><\/p>\n

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki called on the European Union in Madrid to \u201ccollectively\u201d recognize the independence of Palestine on the 1967 border.<\/p>\n

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman excluded for his part the resumption of the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis to resolve the Palestinian issue, threatening to cancel all the agreements that were signed between the two sides if the Palestinian command were to request Palestine\u2019s accession to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his refusal to freeze the Jewish settlement activities in the occupied West Bank or to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 border with an exchange of lands, as it was proposed by American President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Al-Hayat<\/em> daily carried report headlined \u201cGaza population preoccupied with Dahlan case\u201d by its correspondent in Gaza Fathi Sabbah.<\/p>\n

The paper said that Muhammad Dahlan\u2019s case was the object of controversy on the Gaza street, between the man\u2019s supporters who believe he defended Gaza and his detractors who are talking about his involvement in corruption and murder and his defeat by Hamas. It quoted two among his supporters in Gaza as saying they were afraid to voice their support of Dahlan in public, considering that Fatah\u2019s Central Command could retaliate against them discontinuing the salaries they receive from the Palestinian Authority, as it would consider such a sympathy to be a defiance of its decision to exclude him from the movement and prosecute him on charges of corruption and murder.<\/p>\n

For their part, members in Fatah expressed their dissatisfaction toward the decision to oust Dahlan from the movement, saying it was a decision against the Gaza Strip itself. They assured that this step was an attempt to disregard Dahlan\u2019s importance and supporters, at a time when figures close to the man pointed out he had recently met with a very respectable Gaza figure in Cairo and contacted a number of Gaza officials in order to inquire about the best way to deal with the current predicament.<\/p>\n

International affairs<\/h3>\n

The Israeli file<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Between Israel\u2019s denial and Egypt\u2019s confirmation of the obvious existence of an Israeli spy detained by the Egyptian security forces with a laptop and three cell phones containing highly dangerous information, it is certain according to the Jerusalem Post that this spy participated along with the Israeli army in its operation against Lebanon in 2006 during the battles of the town of Al-Taybeh in which he was injured. In 2008 he was a trainee in the so-called Israeli Project, which is an organization that aims at gathering support for Israel abroad.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Moreover, the Israeli papers issued this week tackled several important topics related to the secret military preparations to face the demonstrations and protests expected to be held in September, during the voting at the United Nations over the recognition of the Palestinian state. The training is focusing on the confrontation of several possible scenarios, while army units – especially the Israeli Navy – are conducting training and maneuvers to deter the Turkish fleet coming to Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u2022 On the other hand,\u00a0Maariv<\/em> assured that Israeli intelligence elements were cautioning that Hezbollah\u2019s missiles were even directed toward the city of Eilat.<\/p>\n

Lebanese Affairs<\/h3>\n

Editorial: The Syrian dimension in the Tripoli strife<\/strong>
\nThe formation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati\u2019s government constituted a strong blow to the wagers of the March 14 forces over the continuation of the governmental vacuum that was used to exploit the state apparatuses and capabilities and to exercise a dangerous security and political interference in Syria from Lebanon.<\/p>\n

The new government relied in its formation on the parliamentary majority that includes the March 8 forces and centrist sides representing a wide Lebanese crowd from all the sects, while instead of accepting the logic of the transition of power and succumbing to the simplest rules of democratic parliamentary systems, the Future Movement and its allies launched a wide slander and instigation campaign which they led towards the security explosion in Tripoli under a clear headline featuring the intention to turn Tripoli and the North in general into a base for carrying out acts of sabotage in Syria. This would be done through the fueling of sectarian strife which the planners of this campaign wish to transfer to the neighboring Syrian areas after the armed terrorist groups failed to achieve this goal. The involvement by the Future movement and its allies in the Syrian crisis and especially its security incidents, has exceeded the level of media instigation and political statements, as Farid al-Ghadiri clearly revealed the implication of a Lebanese security apparatus in the incidents. He was pointing to services offered \u2013as many believe- by the Information Branch through the facilitation of the entry of arms and armed men and the protection of the operations room funded by Al-Hariri inside of Lebanon to lead the armed rebellion inside of Syria. These Hariri and Bandari fingerprints were clear in Daraa, Baniyas, Homs and Tal-Kalakh in particular.<\/p>\n

The new government confronted the strife project in Tripoli with extreme stringency since the first moment, thus deploying the army in the city and assigning it to deter any attempt to generate turmoil.<\/p>\n

The Lebanese file<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 The birth of the Lebanese government and the repercussions it entailed. At a quarter to three on Monday June 13th 2011, the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati was born under the headline: \u201cAll for the country, all for action.\u201d This occurred following a meeting held in the Baabda palace between President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who proposed the increase of the Sunni representation to seven ministers by relinquishing a Shiite minister from his share and the Youth and Sports portfolio that was given to Faysal Karame.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Following the announcement of the formation of his government Mikati delivered a speech in which he thanked Speaker Berri by saying: \u201cThis government would not have seen the light had it not been for the sacrifices and efforts of Speaker Berri.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 On the sidelines of the government\u2019s birth, Minister of State Talal Erslan resigned from the government in protest against the fact that he was not given a ministerial portfolio.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Speaker Beri assured that the government was purely made in Lebanon, indicating that President al-Assad did not know what was taking place and that consequently the timing of the formation was not a Syrian one since Damascus had been pushing toward the formation of the government for months in order to have a reference in Lebanon with which it could cooperate to protect the border and prevent the smuggling of arms and anarchy into Syria.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The first government session was headed by President Michel Suleiman who said during the inauguration: \u201cThe government is purely Lebanese and without any foreign interference. During the first 20 years of the Taif Accord, we became accustomed to Syrian reference. But Syria did not interfere now. This is what is required since we proved we are able to resolve our problems by ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0March 14 reactions to birth of government<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Future bloc believed that the government which was announced by Mikati was the government of March 8 and Hezbollah which decided through its one color and political tendency to head in a direction that is opposed to the general course in the Arab world and against the commitments of the prime minister-designate at the level of the national principles.
\nHead of the Lebanese Forces Executive Committee Samir Geagea said that the government was completely loyal to the Syrian regime \u201cWhich brings back to mind the tutelage stage in its worst possible form.\u201d He added: \u201cIts formation placed Lebanon outside the Arab and international group, i.e. in a position of isolation and defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Security tensions and clashes in Tripoli<\/strong><\/p>\n

The city of Tripoli witnessed clashes between the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbene areas, leading to the fall of a number of dead and wounded, including a martyr from the army. Prime Minister Mikati gave clear instructions to Minister of Defense Fayez Ghosn and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji saying: \u201cSecurity is a red line. We will not accept the return of the scenes of war and the times of the thugs and militias, neither in Tripoli nor in any other Lebanese town or village.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source
\nNew Orient News (Lebanon)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARTNERS | BEIRUT (LEBANON)\u00a0| 21 JUNE 2011 Editorial: Turkish illusion prone to collapse Neo-Ottomanism is the promotional cover chosen by the Justice and Development party to address the Arabs. By doing so it combined two ideas, the first being the symbolism of the cultural Islamic bind between the Turks and the Arabs and the second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":36983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2938,408,89,34],"tags":[6187],"class_list":["post-36982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-middle-east-regions","category-north-africa","category-turkey","category-usa","tag-neo-ottomanism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}