Why did the Ottomans pay such a high price in Yemen? Why did lamentations about Yemen swath Anatolia? Why did they try to hang onto the region along the Red Sea, on the shore of the Indian Ocean? What was it about Yemen that made her so valuable and indispensable for us? In terms of Yemen’s geopolitics, which sensitivities, interests and power struggle of the Ottoman/Islamic nation made Yemen become the subject of such a major showdown? Did we lament for no reason?
Was the Yemen Front of the South Arabia campaign during World War I, seen as a suicide scene of an exhausted empire, actually as important as Çanakkale? Because defending the Red Sea, which expands into the Indian Ocean as well as the Arabian Peninsula, Mecca and Medina, would start from Yemen. This was a war of the future; it was a war over the control of the Islamic homeland –the region referred to as the Middle East- and the strategic ways expanding to Southern Asia. The Ottoman Empire was concerned about the political maps of after a hundred years even during the time it was being disintegrated and dispersed. It was making calculations about the geography and how the Muslim nation can stand up after a century. The Ottomans knew very well that the defense of Istanbul started in Sarajevo, Yemen and Basrah. What is worse than having almost no legacy of the strategic memory and geopolitical mindset which attempted to shape the intercontinental power map, even at a time it was being disintegrated?
Çanakkale was today’s war in reality
But what about Çanakkale?
Was that global war, which we almost waged against the Western side as a whole, only a story of heroism? Was the mindset behind putting youth as young as thirteen years old along with tens of thousands of others against the most ferocious war industry in the world, and reducing Anatolia into a tiny little piece of land trying to protect a front of World War I?
Çanakkale too was a battle for the future, a battle for today. It was a battle to defend Istanbul and Anatolia, the last sanctuaries. It was the struggle of a mindset which was stuck between the power struggle amongst Asia and Europe, saying “I’m here too, and even in this condition I have the power to have a say in shaping the global power map.” If Çanakkale was lost on that day, the repercussions of World War I would have been way more frustrating for us, and maybe we would not even have carried out a war of independence, thus having lost Anatolia forever.
Yes, Çanakkale represented the defense of Istanbul. But it’s not just that. The military brain knew this: the Geopolitics of Baghdad and Damascus started in Çanakkale. As much as Istanbul, Syria and Mesopotamia were also defended in Çanakkale.
The same scenario and front a hundred years later
Alright, but can the current geopolitical brains draw parallels between what is currently going on in Syria and Iraq with the defense of Çanakkale on the anniversary of its victory? I doubt it. I am not even sure if they are able to comprehend what is going on in Iraq and Syria. Let us remind them about how the ones who captured Yemen and stood against us in Çanakkale infiltrated into the heart of Mesopotamia. Let us remind them that the British who settled into the heart of Mesopotamia back then share the same legacy with American armies who settled into the same region after eighty-six years, and let us remind them that the scenario is the same and that they are here for the same power plot. They are repeating the same thing now as they did when they had occupied and broke Iraq and Syria into pieces.
It seems as though a hundred years does not change much in world history. In that case, if we want to understand the history of today, the only address is to read about World War I and the ensuing years. We will never truly understand what is going on in the region, if we don't know that history. If we weren't able to carry the military brains, geopolitical calculations and foresight forward to today, we would never have been able to take a further step beyond the southern borders of Anatolia, nor would we have been able to see our step forward. This will, in turn, cost us another loss of a hundred years.
The front never changed, Turkey is still the Ottoman Empire
The step taken by Turkey regarding the Syria issue perhaps reflected the biggest geopolitical calculation since World War I. It was a response against the restructuring of the region and the new demographic power structure. This was noticed, hence the Western coalition –the famous Allies who fought against us in Çanakkale, our traditional allies- withdrew their support from Turkey. This is clearly evidence of the fact that regardless of the alliances established, and cooperation in the region, the front has never changed since a hundred years and that Turkey still represents the Ottoman Empire for them.
Those who attempt to burn the bridges of cooperation established in Syria, Yemen, Central Africa and Iraq today are the same countries as those who piled up the world’s heaviest military power in Çanakkale. They are the same countries which attempted to drain Turkey through civil conflict and tried to block its recovery for decades. The same powers are behind the attempts to balance Turkey by supporting Iran’s regional opening. It is precisely because of this reason that those who set the centers on fire for the alleged re-emergence of Neo-Ottomanism while remaining silent to Iranian domination over former Ottoman cities.
Not Baghdad, Istanbul was bombed
When Baghdad was being bombed during the occupation of Iraq, I wrote that the bombs dropped on Baghdad were dropped on Istanbul and that the defense of Baghdad would be the defense of Istanbul as Iraqi geopolitics started at Çanakkale and that both Britain, who came to Çanakkale, and the United States, who came to Mesopotamia, for occupation were the same powers in reality, aiming for the same target.
What did we remember when Çanakkale’s anniversary and the anniversary of Iraq’s occupation were being commemorated in the same period? With the heavy toll of occupation, the ensuing tragedy, and the terror of the Çanakkale battle, we saw the necessity of remembering Çanakkale. What were the things that pushed us into sharing a common fate? Was the connection between Çanakkale and Iraq limited solely to the martyrs from Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah in the Çanakkale war memorial?
What I try to say here is that we shared a common fate back then, and we share a common fate today. Those who defended Çanakkale back in the day are obliged to protect their geography today. Istanbul’s fate has always been the same as Baghdad’s. If Baghdad could be defended from Çanakkale, then Istanbul may as well be defended from Baghdad and Damascus.
Watch out for those who blinded us, that game is not over yet
Don’t underestimate the remarks of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he said “Turkey will not become Andalusia.” Both the Ottoman and Andalus empires were similar in terms of their age. They did not even leave a trace of that empire in Spain. For the West, Istanbul still stands as the capital of Eastern Rome, also known as Byzantium. That dream never faded away. Five hundred years is not that long for such dreams. Remember the images when Baghdad was shelled. Don’t you ever forget that they have the same dream about the fate of Medina and Istanbul.
Çanakkale was an Anzac show for them, but it was not only heroism for us. Neither is Yemen a lamentation or a suicidal attempt for us. Because we are not talking about the century behind. We are indeed discussing the history of today.
Consider your country, neighbors, geography and near and current history from this perspective. Consider this so that you can learn by heart who tries to make Turkey blindfolded, break her back, and those who try to restrain it to the borders of Anatolia again.
Don’t forget; World War I is not yet over for us. That showdown continues. It took place in Çanakkale yesterday, and is now taking place in the former Ottoman cities. Tomorrow, we may have to do it on Istanbul’s front again.
