By: İbrahim Karagül*
I believe it’s not possible. Despite all the angry operations being carried out, the subsequent wave of attacks with the objective of corroding it from within and hitting it from the outside, and all terrorist organizations being activated, despite the aim to belittle and weaken the current political mind, this is no longer possible.
After this point, “preventive” tactics such as drowning it in its own problems, dragging it into uncertainty, threatening to siege it in every aspect, pushing it forward as the point of global tension, will not be enough to slow down and stop Turkey.
The wall of fear has already been overcome
The critical threshold has been overcome. The psychological threshold has been conquered. The walls of fear, lines of uneasiness have been overcome. Promises of alliance, nonsense discourse have all come to an end, the truth has been revealed and the political deception of the last 20 years is over. Turkey has managed to define itself rather than be identified by the outside world. It has been able to give prominence to its own value definitions rather than others’ value definitions and drawn a road map for itself in this direction.
Turkey has realized the obligation to recognize and know itself, to remain standing on its own feet instead of the “strategic position” discourse of the U.S. and EU. Turkey has finally learned what it means to live and die for itself.
Attempts to intimidate the political mind, to invest in social cracks and create areas of conflict have resulted in failure. Thousands of operations have been tried both from within and outside.
These attempts have reminded our nation how a joint resistance should be. What’s most important is the illusion created by Europe, the U.S. and the close developments around us are gone. Everybody is where they deserve and from now on will be defined that way.
First operation on Turkey kicked off with the Arab Spring
Let us remember the Arab Spring period. The periods that started in North Africa and started to spread in every corner of the Middle East and in which those who had had enough of the oppressive administrations and captive ruling governments of the 20th century took action. It was right during those periods that Turkey established very close partnerships with almost every country between North Africa and the Middle East, attempted to build supra-national structures, introduced new figures and a new dynamic for the region.
The Arab Spring was suppressed by forces that invaded the geography and their attempt, leaving it without a result. This was an intervention the U.S. and Europe organized together. It was with this intervention that all of Turkey’s relations with the region, its rapprochement efforts, partnership plans, supra-national structuring plans were all reset. The intervention was not only in the Arab Spring, but also on Turkey. All countries that came close to Turkey were fine-tuned and every country was punished in some way.
That’s when the West started to threaten Turkey
The greater intervention was performed on Turkey, on the new political discourse spread by Turkey in the region, on the new language of awakening. A great danger was coming for the West and Turkey was the leader, political supporter and breeder of this new movement. If it succeeded, the West’s entire influence and control in the region would be over, Turkey’s power would increase, a region would rise again, history would change, the global power map would turn into a mess and their 21st century plans would be reset.
They could not overlook it and they didn’t. They brewed up such a storm that we could not look beyond the borders. That’s when the fight to stop Turkey was started. At first, U.S. authorities and European foreign ministers tried to take advantage of this hit saying, “We want to be partners with Turkey in the Middle East.” A while later the words changed and the language of partnership turned into a language of threat. They started to make open accusations and warnings.
They were going to immediately wipe us out from these lands
It is from this moment on in which voices started to rise that the open operations against our country were launched. They were no longer hiding their words or interventions. They are now working on the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan image and activating the opposition elements and sleeper cells within the country. They conducted the first operations with the Gezi incidents, using an Arab Spring-like camouflage. This was an open attack against the new Turkey.
Then with the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempt in 2013, they tried to eliminate Erdoğan and his circle and retake Turkey. They were going to oust Erdoğan, eliminate his close circle and eradicate forever the new founding mind from these lands. The elimination list of thousands of people was a plan to wipe the country’s memory in the complete sense. They failed to stop Turkey again. They vacated its surroundings but could not make it collapse from within.
July 15 was not a plan to stop but destroy
July 15 was activated to eliminate and destroy the Turkey they could not defeat or make kneel. They no longer wanted to just stop it, they wanted to divide it into pieces and wipe it out from political history. They were going to turn it into Syria through civil war and impose new maps on us. This is why the majority of our allies were involved in such a plan, some were secretly giving support, while others were trying to save themselves with sheepish words.
But this country had overcome the wall of fear. It saw and identified what was happening and the kind of scenarios we were facing and took position accordingly. That night, the tens of thousands of people spoke up against not only the coup plotters, but also showed a stance to the world against that multinational attack and gave a message of warning: This country will never kneel, never surrender. They were going to resist against their complete elimination plans to the death. Their true intentions, the West’s plans for the region and Turkey were now known.
July 15 coup plotters are now attacking from Syria
July 15 is now a deep breaking point for Turkey’s political history. It is the history of the new establishment. It will largely shape the history of the future. There are no more plans they can achieve in this country with such scenarios. Turkey could not be stopped again, taken hostage or eradicated.
Now they are attacking from Syria. Those who could not succeed in the July 15 attempt are attacking from Syria. They are putting up an incredible fight to stop the Euphrates Shield, to negate it, to block it, to drag Turkey into an epic failure and turn this failure into social unrest on the inside.
They were going to use the terror corridor they wanted to build in our south to activate their new map plans in Iraq and Syria, as well as their energy plans. And as a result, they were going to surround and close in on Turkey from the south. This corridor, which was ruined by the Euphrates Shield, was activated as a joint plan of the U.S., Europe and Iran.
They set all organizations against us
Now they are trying to stop Turkey here. All the organizations controlled by the U.S., European countries and Iran were pushed to the front against us. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Hezbollah, Daesh, Hashd al-Shaabi, certain organizations controlled by U.S. intelligence, formed a new front line against the Euphrates Shield. The fight in front of al-Bab, the attacks targeting our soldiers are not solely part of an operation conducted by Daesh.
They want to build a new terror corridor further south of the Euphrates Shield. They are trying to stop Turkey from going further south and preventing this connection, too. Hence, almost all countries have taken position against Turkey in front of al-Bab. Whether they have partners on the inside and who they are is a different issue.
Entering al-Bab, intervening in Afrin and Tal Abyad is a must
We are going to ruin this plan, too; we must ruin it. Because the Euphrates Shield is part of the struggle given on July 15. If they stop us there, we will have to withdraw. We have to take into consideration that this withdrawal can go all the way into Anatolia. Whatever the price, we should push aside their grand games and scenarios and enter al-Bab and also make direct intervention on Afrin and Tal Abyad.
If we don’t want new attempts or interventions on the inside, we must carry out that clash, that intervention on the outside and establish the protection shield there. This is why we are required to get into more determined and wider-scale interventions. We have to know that in the future, our small hesitancies, uneasiness and concerns are going to turn into gigantic problems and concerns inside Anatolia.
Have no doubt, this is a fight for independence
Because from now on, taking a step back will be suicide. Intentions are obvious, plans are out in the open and enmities have been declared. Then, we have to bury those intentions and enmities in al-Bab and Afrin. If they are continuing July 15 there, then we are going to put up this fight there, too. And we are going to see this as a national fight for independence. We have to win this fight.
Whatever they promise from the outside, regardless of the distraction on the inside, we have to use this historic opportunity well. Because it will be impossible to make up for it. Because we are concerned that some are seriously distracting Turkey, trying to weaken this operation, that they are making other plans in the background; we are concerned about a new operation.
I think Turkey is obligated to deliver a very intense and major intervention. And it is going to do this despite all the games and distractions. Because it has no choice. As we mentioned earlier, it is no longer possible to stop Turkey. That era is over.
*Ibrahim Karagül is a Turkish writer and journalist. He is the editor-in-chief of Turkish Yeni Şafak newspaper.
(Published in Yeni Şafak Turkish newspaper on Friday, Dec. 2, 2016)
