Islamist Imperialism
"Foreigners love oil, gold, diamonds and the cheap labour force of the Islamic world. They like the conflicts, fights and quarrels of the Middle East."
"[Westerners] look like friends, but they want us dead, they like seeing our children die. How long will we stand that fact?"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Well, it's true, quite true. Mr. Erdogan finds much more in common with Russian President Vladimir Putin than he does with any of the NATO countries of which his country is a member. And he has not yet withdrawn Turkey's application to become part of the European Union. It is not known whether he has applied for Turkey to become a member in good standing of the Russian Federation, but the two leaders do get along famously.
In Mr. Putin's recent visit to Turkey to discuss the new surprise route of a gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey, a sudden alteration in plans for the South Stream project to go through Bulgaria, a slap at Bulgaria, a Greek gift to Turkey. Technical work for the construction of the new pipeline will commence to the satisfaction of both Putin and Erdogan, where 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas is to be marketed through a gas terminal located on the Turkish-Greek Border. Turkey has money, Russia's is dwindling; it is an agreement made in heaven, even if Turkey needs a better price.
As lavish and extravagant is Vladimir Putin's new palace, Mr. Erdogan's outlandishly huge monstrosity of self-indulgent luxury makes the former look like a country house; which it admittedly is, yet itself of enormous and grand proportions. They may agree between them that their leadership status as autocrats of the highest order befits them to live amid such grandeur, even while they politely disagree over Syria, since both enjoy good relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Neither politician and indisputable head of their respective countries seems to have any hesitation in supporting state-sponsored and even state terrorism, so they do indeed have much in common. Each has enjoyed defying Western imperialism, even while Russian and Turkish imperial ambitions have become increasingly clearer with each progressive step these leaders make in their selective geographies, vying for the leadership roles they believe they deserve on the evidence of their superior capabilities.
Russia defies the globe, from north to south, sailing its fleet wherever it wishes, be it through the English Channel in 'free waters' or off the coast of Australia, or submarining in Swedish or Canadian waters. Turkey is busy concocting heritage and history overturning truth and reality for the opportunity to claim that Islam's exceptional presence has been responsible for vast historical discoveries, from Fikri Isik, the country's Science, Industry and Technology Minister claiming Muslim scientists first discovered the Earth is round to President Erdogan insisting Muslim sailors reached the Americas before Columbus by 300 years.
Evidence mounts, on the other hand, that at this time in history Turkey is turning a blind eye to weapons and fighters crossing from its borders into Syria to reach the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, a courtesy that has been denied the Kurds in Turkey wishing to travel the same route, anxious to aid their Syrian brethren battling the Islamic State. Purloined Iraqi and Syrian state oil now in the grasping possession of Islamic State flows through Turkey to be sold on the black market to further fund Islamic State's enterprising caliphate.
Inside Turkey, according to investigators with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, ISIS has "established cells for recruiting militants and other logistical operations". Turkey's main Kurdish party has accused the Justice and Development party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan of permitting ISIS jihadis to attack the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani directly from within Turkey, allowing the passage of terrorists and their weaponry, along with fortifying supplies to benefit ISIS as it continues its siege of the Syrian Kurdish town.
Where at one time the EU was skittish about admitting Turkey, a Muslim country into its hallowed company, citing human rights violations distasteful to the values of most European countries, Turkey now also revels in its status as the country that imprisons more journalists than any other. The free passage of speech is anathema to Turkey's survival as an ever-more-fundamentalist Islamist country, leading Mr. Erdogan to pledge to "wipe out Twitter. I don't care what the international community says. They will see the Turkish republic's strength."
Quite; its strength lies in silencing its critics, in slandering those whose religion offends Islam, in transforming Turkey from a Western-based Democracy to an Islamist kleptocracy. Cleverly destroying dissent from within the Turkish military which had sworn to uphold the legacy of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk who had turned Turkey away from its slavish devotion to Islam, hindering its social, scientific, economic advance into the future, President Erdogan has done a right-turn back to the stilted past resurrecting the Ottoman Empire and placing himself right and centre, its caliph.
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| Ak Saray (White Palace) Turkey’s new presidential palace spreads over some 50 acres of forest land, boasts 1,000 rooms, an underground tunnel system, state-of-the-art anti-espionage technology and a blend of modernist and medieval architecture. Screen grab |
"Turkey is no longer the old Turkey. The New Turkey needs to manifest itself in certain ways. We need to convey the message that Ankara is a Seljuk capital. We paid great attention to that. We paid attention to Ottoman themes in the interior, also adding elements reflecting the modern world. We had it constructed as a smart building. … [Such are] the requirements of being a great state", explained the great statesman, ruler of all he surveys.
Labels: Conflict, Economy, Islamism, Jihad, Russia, Turkey
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, December 06, 2014
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