It seems that the Turkish President has become more determined than ever to swim against the international and regional trend that rejects Iran’s aggressive policies towards neighboring countries. Instead, he is turning his country into a gateway to helping the Iranian regime to breathe and break the international sanctions imposed on it, in a provocative behavior. Ankara does not take into account the right of neighborhood and ties with the countries of the region, affected by the behavior of Iran and its militias.
Turkey’s ruling AKP government, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, began supporting the policies of Iran trying to be achieved in the region. It began with Erdogan’s defense of the Houthi militias after targeting Saudi Arabia. But the real and actual support for the Erdogan government remains – as Ahwal newspaper recently revealed – the Iranian government’s transfer of many economic projects to the Turkish territory in order to circumvent US and international sanctions.
The newspaper also revealed that several Iranian companies and factories have already started to transfer their activities, including Iran Khodro Company, which is specialized in the car industry, starting to establish a factory in the province of Van in eastern Turkey.
They were already confirmed by the city’s governor, Mehmet Emin Bilmez, who revealed the existence of many negotiations and communication with the Iranian side during the recent period, on what he called “investment” in Turkey, adding: “Many Iranian companies, moved their factories to other countries because of sanctions, the Turkish province of Van is the most suitable place for such companies. “
From Turkey to Tehran
President Erdogan’s policies on the Iranian issue were not confined to Yemen and sanctions issues, but also to the crisis in Syria, in which Ankara played a major role in handing over several areas previously controlled by the opposition to the Iranian-backed Syrian regime. The Turkish government backed Iran in outstanding problems with some Arab countries – in particular the Iranian role in Iraq with own militias, suppressing demonstrations against Iran’s influence, sending Turkish anti-riot equipment to those militias responsible for the killing of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, according to local newspapers.
Turkey’s stance in support of Iran’s crimes was also demonstrated by Erdogan’s statements that the chanting of Iraqi demonstrators against Iran is linked to external parties, seeking to divide the Muslim world, forgetting that the chant demands respect for the sovereignty of the country, which Iran has been violating for years.
In addition, the Turkish president’s insistence in supporting Iran has been exposed totally in the issue of the offensive against Arab countries, especially the Gulf states, and criticizing the „Coalition to Support Legitimacy“ in Yemen, forgetting Iran’s role in the killing of millions of people in the region in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon within its strategy to establish a Shiite dominance.
Faced with this reality and these policies, political analysts considered that the relations between the Iranian and Turkish regimes went beyond the limits of support, to what can be described as a “solid alliance”, adding: “Turkey has become a real partner with Iran, especially as Turkey supports Iran not only politically but also economically. This became obvious when Turkey contributed in financing the Revolutionary Guards, considering that the sanctions that Turkey helped to break was aimed to preventing the access of oil funds to the regime’s external military arm, which funds and trains militias, responsible for subversive projects in the Middle East.
Analysts pointed out that what Turkey is doing means in one way or another that it now belongs to the Iranian sphere, pointing out that the Erdogan government has opened its territory widely to an Iranian expansion and that Iran’s bet today is focusing on what the AKP can offer.
What does Erdogan want?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has changed many ropes with his political games in the MENA region during the past years, jumping between the US and then the Russian side, including the support of the Syrian Brotherhood opposition, and then playing with the Iranian card, and up to holding the Muslim Brotherhood’s cards. This made a lot of expert in the Middle East politics asking a fundamental question about the goal Erdogan seeks to achieve through these policies?
The previous question was not limited to analysts, but reached social networks platforms, where Turkish policies represented a dialogue between commentators, who are considering that the AKP does not take in consideration any political, ethical and human norms for its interests, pointing out that President Erdogan’s statements on injustice and oppressed migrants and supporters are merely statements for the media together with the mobilization of the street through this „Islamic“ discourse.
“Who wants to know the truth of AKP and its approach? What they have done in Syria and its people, where Erdogan paved his way to the Sultanate with the blood of the Syrians,” Syrian activist Mohammed Mustafa wrote on his Twitter page.
In addition, Suad al-Homsiyya wrote: “Long time ago we used to say that Erdogan wants to restore the glory of the Ottomans, but his policies and actions suggest that he is an unbalanced person who is paranoid,” pointing out in another tweet that Turkish politics today is governed by a group of psychopaths, seekers of greatness and deification.
On Twitter, the activist Saud al-Shammari reminded the Turkish President that Tehran, which he defends today, is drowned in blood of Muslims and Arabs, and that millions of children have been killed by its militias, adding: “Erdogan’s support for the Iranians originates from his desire to avenge the Arabs who took his Ottoman grandparents out of their lands, it is the hatred of Saudi Arabia and all the Arab countries rebelled against and expelled them, defeated them in World War I.
Copyright © 2019 The Middle East and North Africa Media Monitor.
