The Turkish Empire Expands

Subject: NEW YORK: NATIONAL HERALD

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 16:56:19 +0000

By Theodore G. Karakostas

The late Turkish President Turgut Ozal once declared that the 21st Century would be the century of the Turk. He might have been right. The European Union’s decision to grant Turkey a starting date for accession negotiations this past December 17 was a tremendous diplomatic and political victory for Ankara. While it is true that Ankara may not formally be a member for another ten or 15 years, the reality is that the door which has been opened for Turkey will not likely be closed.

The Turks are finishing off Cyprus, and they have swept Greece aside. With the recent EU decision, Turkish influence is in the process of expanding into Western Europe. Turkey already has a pact with Israel in the Middle East, which expands Turkish power and influence over the Arabs. Both the United States and Israel support Turkish influence in the Caucuses among the Turkic Republics such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan (in order to counter Russian and Iranian influence).

Even if Greeks take an optimistic view of the EU’s decision this past December and surmise that Turkish membership can be vetoed at some future date (especially if Ankara does not recognize Cyprus), Ankara has added another political and diplomatic triumph to its list of achievements over the past six years, and will likely adopt an even more intransigent stance on all issues pertaining to Cyprus, Halki and human rights issues. The present era of Turkish influence and power began in 1996, with the signing of the Turkish-Israeli pact, which was signed on the province of Alexandretta, which Turkey took from the Syrians in 1938.

In October 1998, the Generals decided to crush the Kurdish Revolution by trying to capture PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan (then residing in Damascus). The Turkish Military took the offensive by threatening military action against Syria. The late Syrian President, Hafez Al Assad, found himself and his regime surrounded by Turkey and Israel, which is comparable to Poland being surrounded by Hitler and Stalin in 1939. The Syrians capitulated and Ocalan was sent to Moscow.

Two months later, Ankara threatened military action against Cyprus if the free government of Nicosia went ahead and installed Russian-made S-300 antiaircraft missiles, which were to be purchased from the Russians. The Cypriots suddenly found themselves under international pressured (by the Simitis government in Athens, as well) not to install the missiles. The S-300 issue was an early preview of what has been happening to Cyprus since last April 24, and the Turks won yet another victory through the threat of military aggression.

The real beginning of the failed Greek-Turkish "friendship" did not begin with the so-called "earthquake diplomacy" during the summer of 1999 when the people of Greece and Turkey assisted one another in the aftermath of powerful temblors which shook each country. The one-sided "friendship" began when Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan was taken to Kenya by Greek officials and ended up in Turkish hands.

The capture of Abdullah Ocalan in February 1999 was a huge triumph for Turkey, which broke the Kurdish Revolution. At the time, a publication of the American Kurdish Information Network noted the irony that, when Ocalan was captured, the Premier of Turkey was none other than Bulent Ecevit, who ordered the Turkish invasions of Cyprus in 1974. In the run-up to the December 1999 European Union decision on whether Turkey should be officially accepted as a candidate for membership, Ecevit openly asserted that he considered the Cyprus matter solved, and that there would be no concessions forthcoming.

Despite Ecevit’s open intransigence, Athens lifted its longtime veto on Turkey and allowed Turkey to become an associate member of the European Union, another great victory for Turkey. Now then, over the course of 14 months, the Turks achieved the following:

1. They broke the Syrians and forced Damascus to expel Ocalan, and to cease supporting the PKK by threatening an outright invasion of Syria.

2. They ensured that Cyprus would remain vulnerable, and at their mercy, by using the threat of war to block the installation of Russian missiles.

3. They crushed the Kurdish Revolution and captured their chief antagonist, Abdullah Ocalan, and…

4. They moved significantly closer to realizing their goal of joining the European Union, despite threats of war directed against neighboring countries.

It is significant to recall that the EU had rejected Turkey’s candidacy in December 1997, citing Cyprus, the Kurdish issue and human rights. Two years later, the EU decision was completely overturned, and Turkey had not made a single concession on any one of those issues. Put into proper historical and political context, it becomes extremely unlikely that the Turks will face any obstacles on their way to Europe. Turkish political and military influence is expanding all the way from Europe to the Balkans (where Washington is helping them extend their influence over the Muslims in Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo), to the Caucuses and the Middle East.

That Ankara behaves like an Empire with imperial ambitions is beyond doubt. Turkey refused to assist the United States with Iraq in March 2003, and despite the high level of anti-Americanism in Turkey, Ankara continues to be favored by Washington. Ankara’s refusal to assist the United States and Islamist Prime Minister Erdogan’s public condemnations of Israel over the Palestinians shows that Turkey is intent on exerting influence throughout, while maintaining complete independence. Ankara’s hard-line stance on Iraq is meant to ensure that no Kurdish entity will ever be established in northern Iraq.

The rise of Turkey is a problem that is going to get steadily far worse for Greece and Cyprus. With Ankara under the European tent, Turkish leaders have nothing to restrain them. By refusing to block Turkey’s path to Europe, Athens has thrown away its only leverage. What is truly disturbing is that Greece did not veto Turkey despite the recent acts of aggression by Turkey, which involved violation of Greek airspace, refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Republic of Cyprus, and the Gray Wolf demonstrations outside the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).

Greece instead welcomes Turkey into the European Union. In light of Turkey’s recent provocations against Greece, however, the probability of Ankara adopting an even more aggressive posture towards Athens is inevitable, since Greece has failed to resist by rationally vetoing Turkey’s European ambitions.

Turkey is still vulnerable internally, but that is another topic altogether. Despite its internal weaknesses and shortcomings, Turkey is faring well and becoming a smaller version of the Ottoman Empire. Greece’s policies on Turkey, since the onset of "earthquake diplomacy," have left Cyprus fatally wounded and Greek national security badly compromised.