Can Turkey solve its problems by introverting? More accurately, can Anatolia and Thrace be preserved for eternity? Some say yes. According to them, by focusing on interior problems, reducing unemployment, Turkey can maintain its presence and provide a better living standards for its citizens through the fair distribution of available resources.
These expressions, while logically sound, are far from being representative of reality, no matter how attractive they might seem. It is not possible to maintain internal stability and make welfare sustainable by trying preservation alone. While you keep one eye on the inside, the other must simultaneously focus on the developments taking place in the periphery of the region, and on both near and far threats. Otherwise, God forbid, your homeland and your own existence, which you have kept both your eyes on, can easily slip through your fingers.
As was the case in my last columns, I want to once again focus on Libya. I welcome all comments, articles written on this subject. As with many issues, I see it has become so far removed from its essence by being reduced to the government-opposition conflict dynamic or has fallen prey to the noise made by some who are too concerned with their own comfort.
There is no need to look to Herodotus to see the truth. One does not need to have clairvoyance and prudence to study recent history and learn these lessons. To this end, a minimum level of intelligence, ordinary foresight and even simple instinct for defense will do.
The issue of Libya is not a matter of passion, expansion, a lust for power, or individual heroism. It is an existential issue and a matter of state politics. The Libya issue is key to maintaining a presence in the Mediterranean, to be sure-footed in the South and the West, and to protect Northern Cyprus, which has been a national cause for half a century. For this reason, it is the region itself that we should always keep an eye on.
Keeping mum and admonishing those who show vigor with even more dire words and writings in support of this project is, at best, unwise, and at worst, is nothing short of betrayal as they try to isolate Turkey, despite it being the biggest bridge between the East and West, within its borders and distance it from its geo-strategic claims by confining it to the open waters of Antalya.
We need to again recall the history of the region for the benefit of those who are retarded, who are scared of the parties that joined forces against Turkey, and who adopt the West’s approaches as their own, who became mouthpieces for their masters.
Have any of you heard of the Twelve Islands (the Dodecanese)? Did you know that Libya was lost along with the Twelve Islands? Do you know that the Twelve Islands was one of the biggest issues that shackled Turkey for over a century? When you ask what business do we have in Libya, are you aware that you’d also be giving up your dreams of vacationing on your beloved Mediterranean beaches of Cyprus that you had surrendered in the past?
To those who pay heed to Western tutelage, who turn a blind eye to the alliance forged between Greece, Southern Cyprus, Israel and even Egypt in the Mediterranean, let me refresh their memories once more: had there not been similar mistakes made in the past, the current threats and dangers would not exist. If you continue to make the same mistakes today, you’re leaving tomorrow’s Turkey a legacy of grave risks. Were you to read up on political history, you would have surmised all of this. Back in 1878, look at how the civilized (!) Western representatives closest to us made their way toward Libya from Germany through Italy. Look at how they paved the way for Italy to occupy Libya after France and Britain occupied Tunisia and Egypt respectively in 1881 and 1882.
Think of how that era’s strong Austro-Hungarian empire annexing the Ottomans’ western territories in Bosnia and Herzegovina gave Italy license to do the same in the south.
If you were to consider all of the aforementioned, you know that the rest will come at rapid succession. As a matter of fact, as Italy occupied Libya at the first opportunity, you will realize in amazement that the sound of the blow it dealt the Ottoman empire came first from the Mediterranean's (now Aegean) twelve islands, then from the Balkans.
Due to the prevailing state of cowardice and sluggishness that marked the period, you will notice that these opportunities that were within reach were never assessed.
In short, Turkey does not only have an emotional bond to Libya; it has never been a tool for therapy for our psycho-historic attacks. Libya, which found itself the target of terror due to its wealth of resources, and whose legitimate government is being threatened, is a matter of life and death. With this in mind, the Turkish parliament must green-light the deployment of Turkish troops in Libyan territories in order to establish peace.
