We know the revenge of cities. We know that it is the cities that write the history of humanity, that cities have strong memories and they never forget that they hold to account for the oppression and pain regardless of how much time passes. History is full of these examples. History has seen many cities bury many empires into the ground and destroy many oppressors. This time will be no different. Neither Aleppo’s Crusaders, nor its Mongolians or Persians will outlast Aleppo.

Abu Ghraib torture, organizations linked to Iran

We are watching the lowliest examples of the massacre of Muslims. We are seeing how a multinational war, a world war, the showdown of powers is burning the poor people of a city in fire. We are seeing executions, mass slaughters, rapes, burning alive, destroying houses with people inside. We see children’s cries, women’s screams, men’s despair.

We see that there is no difference between the neocon racists in Abu Ghraib inflicting torture with the love of worship and those committing massacres in Aleppo. We see that there is no difference between the massacres and rapes committed by the Western armies during the invasion of Iraq and the massacres and rapes committed in Aleppo by the Iran-affiliated terrorist organizations. We see that there is no difference between those who shot the thousands of slaves in Kunduz, who strangled them in carriages and those committing the genocide-like atrocity in Aleppo.

Iran’s sectarians and the neocon racists

They were Christian warriors; they believed in the Armageddon war; they were pushing for doomsday; they were evangelist racists. This is why they wanted to invade the world and wipe out Islam from the face of the earth. They were sharing Muslim territory, they were trying to change the direction of history. And to achieve this, they were ready to set the entire world on fire if necessary. Yet those burning and destroying Aleppo are Muslim. But they have the same mentality, same belief, same racism, same sectarianism, same doomsday scenario, same passion for atrocity, same bloodthirst and the same mentality to set the world on fire.

What is it that brings the Christian racists, neocon rightists, Israel’s far right and these sectarian racists, this Baath gang and Persian imperialism to the same point, what turns them to the same target? What unites them all through the massacre of Muslims? What brings Israel and Iran, the U.S. and Russia together on the same front, what threat, what fear, what passion? What kind of holy alliance is this?

Beware of the East’s invasive power

The East and West’s armies, terrorist organizations and killers are all together destroying a civilization, the Muslim zone and cities and committing the gravest human sins. The Muslim world, which is cornered from both the East and West, is being hit in the heart and being destroyed. There is no difference between that which comes from the U.S. or Iran. There is no difference between that which comes from Russia or Europe.

And Iran joined the Crusade alliance, the Muslim region formed an alliance with the invading Crusader armies and is hitting the Islamic world through the Shiite-Sunni separation and slaughtering Muslim women and children like a foreign element, like an outside invading power. Iran, whose attitude in the Hama massacre has never been forgotten, will not be able wash its hands of the sin of the Aleppo massacres for decades to come. This country no longer has any moral ground, credit or reliability left in the Muslim world. It is expansionist, aggressive has imperial ambitions against its neighbors and supports terrorist organizations against border countries.

The actual big goal of Tehran, which wants to turn toward the Persian Gulf after Syria and shake the countries there, is Saudi Arabia; it is Mecca. Its ultimate goal is to get the tanks in front of the Kaaba, to form a new Persian empire. In this aspect, Iran is headed toward being an invading power that has turned to our region after the West.

We are under heavy responsibility

Aleppo is not only a city, it is a memory, an identity, a value, history. Those making Aleppo go through all this today are going to want to turn all the cities in the region into Aleppo. They are preparing for this. If it goes on like this, tomorrow’s Aleppo is going to be Damascus, Isfahan, Cairo or Istanbul. We are required to understand and grasp this historical tendency, global invasion calculations in the very broad sense and make plans accordingly.

We, who live on these lands, who consider Anatolia our homeland, who are trying to get back up on our feet after a very heavy destruction like World War I, are under grave responsibility. Just as we are struggling to protect our country, the homeland, we are obliged to stand tall against the violence and invasion wreaking havoc on our country. This is why they want to confine us within Anatolia again, this is why they want to drag us into civil war and division like on July 15.

Whenever we run to help, the homeland faces attack

Because we are in search of a morality, a future beyond all the destruction scenarios. We want this both for ourselves and for the geography at whose center we are located. This is why we are the main target. This is why we are being hit from both inside and outside. We are being hit from both the west, east and south. This is why all terrorist organizations were activated against Turkey. It is known that we can change the game, that we are the only ones that have such an intention and means. This is why they want to stop the re-awakening of the thousand-year history-maker role.

But whenever we reach out our hand to our neighbor, whenever we wipe away their tears, whenever we run to help a city, we are hit from the inside. Regardless of how far we go, the homeland always faces attack. The answer to our care for the region is a bomb set in our heart.

They tell us, “Do not go outside the borders, it will be your turn; accept your fate when the time comes.” While they are preparing new Aleppo plans for these lands, they want us to remain silent, hang our heads down and wait. Yet we know that the further away we install our defense shields, the safer we will be. Everybody under that shield is going to be safe.

We will not be blinded by fury

Whether they strike from the inside, attack the homeland, we are never going to wait at our borders, we are not going to wait to be next. This is a struggle, a race, a century-old showdown. There is a line and this showdown is going to continue until that line is reached. The more they hit, the further we are going to expand, we have no other choice. We are not going to be like the emirates waiting for their turn to come against the Mongolians. We are never going to surrender to the Mongolians of this era.

We are aware of our strength, means, impossibilities, and all the dimensions of the struggle we are in. We are going to grow our fury but we are not going to be blinded with fury. We are going to enlarge our field of compassion but we are not going to be weakened by compassion. As Turkey, we are going to do everything in our power for the homeland and the oppressed in the region; we are going to do everything our strength permits.

We are always going to continue to remain on moral ground. We are never going to be dragged into the sectarian crisis activated by the West, as a new nuclear power and we are never going to become a foreign element to this geography.

Turkey struggled the entire day

Turkey strived the entire day yesterday to get the world to take action, to create a breathing area for those stuck in Aleppo, to open a corridor for the evacuation of civilians. It talked with almost all countries and made them take action. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke three times with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. And in the evening hours, a cease-fire was declared. This good news increased our hope to prevent a much greater atrocity. We are grateful to those who have made efforts to achieve this. Turkey has fulfilled its fundamental duty once again.