• 11:36
  • Friday ,16 June 2017
العربية

Turkey and the big scam

By-Hassan Abou Taleb- ahram

Opinion

00:06

Friday ,16 June 2017

Turkey and the big scam

What s happening in relation to the Qatari crisis clarifies to a great extent that the Arab region is in a state of severe liquidity.

There is a re-positioning in regional relations and behind it there are precursors for international changes that so far have not materialised, especially as every day new Arab and African countries are joining the boycott of Qatar, punishing it for spreading extremism and financing terrorism.
 
At the same time, a regional party, Turkey, has made a strange and shocking move to many of the Arab Gulf countries.
 
It was supposed that Turkey accorded its relations with the big Arab Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates a special status.
 
However, it has blown these considerations on account of calculations based on delusions of establishing an Islamic caliphate supported by the Muslim Brotherhood s international organisations, pursuing military influence in the heart of the Arabian peninsula, backing Qatar and appointing itself a protector and a guardian.
 
This has thwarted entirely everyone s thoughts about a Sunni-based regional alliance in which Erdogan s Turkey plays a pivotal role. Thus, Turkey has proved during Erdogan s term that it doesn t care except about its short-term self interest and cares not for principles or even promises that Erdogan had made many a time to monarchs and princes of the highest calibre in their countries and in the region as a whole.
 
But even more so, Erdogan fancies himself as the region s commander and the custodian of its countries, so that when he commands, others should obey.
 
The Turkish president has issued a silly threat asserting that his estimations have gone astray. He made a demand of the Bahraini foreign minister that the boycott be ended before the holy month of Ramadan is concluded. The minister explained the reality of the Qatari stances and its danger for the region s security and the world, and the reasons driving the four Arab countries to boycott Doha.
 
The Turkish standpoint doesn t need any explanation, for Ankara s decision is to benefit from these developments by reaching the Arab Gulf coasts, and stationing there in order to stand up to the major Arab countries without any provocation to Iran.
 
There are big economic and commercial interests that bring Turkey and Iran together, in contrast to what seems to be their places on conflicting sides of the Syrian conflict.
 
Instead of considering the importance of Qatar reversing its policies, Ankara has gone too far in defending Doha, and why not? They are the main agents in supporting terrorism and extremism in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.  
 
This shocking exposure of Turkey is a logical result of the country s place as the centre of gravity, along with Britain, for the Brotherhood s international organisation.
 
What s more, Turkey is the group s first protector and the protector of other branches, especially in Asia. These countries are known to everybody. Thus, it won t be strange that with pressures mounting on Qatar, most of the terrorist figureheads will leave it for Ankara.
 
Thus, Turkey will become unashamedly, unequivocally the leader of the terrorist organisations. Then the world will know the extent of the huge scam Turkey is playing and the extent of devastation it has practised on neighbouring countries.  
 
Turkey s exposure in this way will pose several questions to the Arab powers in the Gulf, who must re-evaluate their political, economical, commercial and cultural policies of openness towards Ankara during Erdogan s term.
 
If this happened the way it should be done, this will constitute a big blow to Turkish politics and to Erdogan personally. Perhaps the calls by Saudi Twitter users and citizens to boycott Turkish commodities and drama series will be followed by other stricter and clearer standpoints.
 
With the tightening of the boycott of Qatar and the widening of its scope, the biggest question remains: what benefits will Turkey gain from sending some thousands of its soldiers to be stationed permanently on Qatari lands, while at the same time the biggest American military base is situated on the same territory? 
 
It is a kind of superficiality that some see the stationing of these soldiers there as a master stroke, and believe that they will consolidate Turkey s regional role.
 
This will take place simultaneously with a loss of its relations with the Arab Gulf and with the Arab powers, whose importance exceeds that of Qatar s a hundredfold.
 
Supporters of that move are among the terrorist groups  followers backed by Ankara, and they consider it a kind of protection of their biggest financing branch.
 
But this constitutes a major delusion for those short-sighted people, who haven t yet grasped that the Trump administration is leading a change in relation to halting the financing of terrorism and its subversive organisations. This change will drive the world to take a congruent, serious stand, so long called for by Egypt.
 
What we see in Tunisia, for instance, is that an investigation was opened regarding the role of the Qatari ambassador in Tunisia during the Brotherhood s Al-Nahda party s rule under Rachid Al-Ghannouchi s leadership in 2013.
 
Eight billion dollars were channelled from the Tunisian branch of the Qatar bank to another bank in Libya controlled by terrorist groups, especially the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and the Libya Dawn militia. This was done in order to support those groups in wreaking havoc in Libya, Egypt and Algeria.
 
The opening of the investigation, in part, aimed at revealing the truth but also in acquitting Tunisia, during the rule of its President Essebsi, from covering up the corruption of Al-Nahda and its subversive role in neighbouring countries in coordination with Qatar.
 
What s happening in Tunisia now won t be the last Arab or regional movement; it will be repeated in the next few days, and it is likely that Turkish fingerprints will appear on this dirty work. Will Erdogan send his soldiers to every country that may uncover his involvement with his protégé Qatar in creating chaos in Arab countries in order to serve the delusion of a so-called caliphate?
 
The four countries which began the Qatar boycott must coordinate their moves in the UN and present all their evidence to the secretary-general and the Security Council, in order to open an international investigation that can uncover Qatar s involvement in supporting international terrorism.
 
It is anticipated that some countries, especially European states, will resist the opening of such an investigation. Some of them know that they are involved and that Qatari money has been transferred through prestigious European banks. We also know that those facts rob many European countries of their dignity.