Erdogan Says
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Turkey says: “The West: Nothing but hot air.” Does Erdogan say this literally or verbally? One thing is for sure, he says it emphatically. What exactly does Erdogan say?
“You asked for us to help you in Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Balkans. We came and helped. In Syria, we are telling you the same thing. Unfortunately, no one is at home. No one is listening to us.”
Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin adds: “There are five major crisis areas in the region.” Turkey is doing something about each one of them. The West, on the other hand, is not. What is worse, statements from the West are coming like hot air.
Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Balkans
President Erdogan says when NATO asked for help, Turkey came and supported the Western leadership. When Turkey asked for help in the crisis in Syria, no one from the West reciprocated in kind. On the contrary, the West dastardly supported economically and militarily illicit proxy militia against its very NATO ally. As a result, in a sense, the West burned the last viable bridge in the region.
Undermining the importance of Turkey and then no longer perceiving Turkey as an ally have grave consequences. The West leaves no chance to itself to counter the rising East. I made this point in my book: the “GameChanger.” If the US does not work with Turkey, it “cannot remain as the sole economic superpower of the world.” There are no ifs or buts in this conclusion, results speak for themselves.
In the last thirty years, since the early 1990s, the West no longer is in Afghanistan, Somalia and the Balkans. The messy pullout from Afghanistan during the Joe Biden Administration reflects how the West: Nothing but hot air. Somalia is also a no man’s land for Westerns since America tragically closed that chapter. In the Balkans, the West is clinging to countries. America is trying to lure them into the NATO alliance as a last ditch effort.
Failures in Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Balkans are only three Western dilemmas Erdogan mentioned. Looking at the legacy of the West in Iraq and Syria, without Turkey on board, the West cannot even visit the region as a tourist. Conflict resolution proxy wars in Libya and Karabakh also cemented the Turkish role in a vast region, expanding from the Caucasus to inner Africa. Most of it is a no-no zone for the West nowadays.
Afghanistan
America asked Turkey to go into Afghanistan together, after 9/11. Turkey accepted the invitation and two allies went in there together. Twenty years later, America had to pull out because it was bleeding on a daily basis. It was losing soldiers but also the deployment was a major drain on the budget. The main problem: America forgot after it got into Afghanistan the importance of the Turkish role there.
In the post-America Afghanistan, Turkey will continue to be one of the powers with a foothold and a say in the country. No matter who rules Afghanistan, the Taliban will eventually seek to work with Turkey in certain capacities. The West on the other hand will be nowhere to be found in the region with influence.
Somalia
In Somalia, America was in peril and had to pull out from the country altogether in 1994. The Turkish government was among the first foreign administrations to resume formal diplomatic relations with Somalia after the civil war in 2011. A decade later, Turkey has a major military installation in the country and trains the government forces.
No other Western government can claim a similar close relationship with the country’s leadership. Simply because, the ill effects of the American debacle in Somalia today reverberates all throughout Africa. Even more so in the Horn of Africa. Coupled with the “day of rage” in Libya in February 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the US Secretary of State, the West suffers a lot in the dark continent.
The Balkans
In the Balkans, the heritage of the Ottoman Empire still endures. Muslims in particular yearn for the old days. So much so if the European Union were to disintegrate, reportedly, thirteen members would join “New Turkey.”
It took the Ottomans two centuries to control the region. Thereafter, their hegemony lasted four centuries. After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the region fell into chaos. Considering both World Wars began there, after Turks left the region, is vitally important to note.
Turkish efforts to quell the atrocities that ensued disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s are equally paramount to highlight. Hence, it is vitally imperative that the foreign policy objectives of the current US Administration in the region must be examined.
The West: Nothing But Hot Air
But Also Dangerously Ill Advised
In the 2020s, the new world order would no longer permit the West to behave like it did in the 20th century. The rise of China, more and more independent Turkey, coupled with the disgruntled Russia present a bulwark against Western bravado.
Consequently, it is dangerously ill advised for the West to resort to what amounts to nothing but hot air in Asia or Africa or Europe. Today, China, Turkey, and Russia have wide ranging interests and operations in all three continents.
The last thing the West under the leadership of America should resort to is to challenge this trio at the same time. Alienating the long time Western Alliance member Turkey with nothing but hot air statements benefits no one.
In fact, such statements may end up becoming the tipping point sooner than later for Turkey to make radical moves. Turkish moves may come independently or together with other Turks or Muslims, or in conjunction with China and other Eastern powers.
Loosing “New Turkey” Not An Option
In the 2020s, America can deal with China and Russia only if Turkey is on board with the Western Alliance. China alone is projected to become a bigger economy than America within a decade.
Combined power of the rising Eastern powers are insurmountable for America led Western powers to overcome. Unless Turkey is kept in the Western Alliance or in the worst case scenario it is independent but not with China and Russia in tight unity.
Unfortunately nowadays, Turkey cooperates more and more with Russia and China and less with its Western allies. Mainly because of the US Senators that cannot see far enough or understand the dynamics of the international system for some reason.
On that note, the sole reason for the alienation of Turkey are the Western governments, run by Globalists. They ignore time again how times have changed, the East moved, and Turkey grew fast, independent and self sufficient.
What transpired in Afghanistan, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, Iraq, Syria, and Eastern Mediterranean since the 1990s are facts. Unless the West notices them, further and faster demise of the West is yet to come.
Turkey Knows
The West: Nothing But Hot Air
What is worse to emphasize is that Turkey knows what “hot air” is coming from the West. Not only Turkey but also the rest of the fast and furious rising Eastern powers also know this fact.
What is even worse than these facts is the fact that America and some in the Western Europe either ignore or can’t see these realities. As a result, with each one of their careless “hot air” statements, they dig themselves further deep in a well that they can never come out of.
The bad news, unfortunately, is not until another calamity hits home and big enough, public opinion may not change in America. The good news is that the midterm elections in America are only a year away which allows voters to right the ship for their own sake.
Stopping this madness of “hot air” statements once and for all is vitally important. Whether they are coming from the right side of the isle or the left are not important. The rising East sees all of them as coming from decaying America without bias.
A New Turkey not only has the capability but also all the more reasons to take advantage of this at the expense of the West. Plus, there is a massive humanity behind the Turkish leadership that believes it is time to move, some with vengeance, to say the least!
