Take a look at the geographical region and countries where once the Ottoman Empire ruled or held sway during the last years of its reign i.e. the years of World War I…

From Iran to Yemen, Istanbul to Basra, Palestine to Syria; an intelligence war is being fought in the entire region.

Any element that comes to mind has been mobilized as part of these intelligence wars, ranging from ethnic elements, to some communities, some religious orders, foreign schools, companies and travelers. To the extent that it is revealed that even some relapsed Muslims who attained the position of sheikhdom were extensions of British intelligence. Those cells were called into action at the time and place seen fit.

While an empire was being pillaged, the worst plunder it faced was by those who committed betrayal from the inside. It was the people who joined the destruction upon receiving a sign; the same people who we thought were one of us, who fed off the bounty of these lands, and who we thought were made in the same mould as ourselves.

Lawrence of Arabia was just one example and our native Lawrences were responsible for much bigger disasters. They were cuddling up with British intelligence in Istanbul while Anatolian youth were dropping like leaves in Yemen, the Suez Canal Zone and Kut-al Amara. Many of their graves cannot be located even today.

To take the diaries, which represent history, of those people who lost their lives in the far-flung corners of this huge region and throw it into the faces of those who have taken on similar intelligence roles today would represent noble behavior.

Those days were a time of destruction. It was an attempt to destroy a great nation that had brought the region together and to expunge it from history books and the region. Betrayal didn’t have an identity. It didn’t matter whether the betrayers were Arab, Turk, Kurd, Muslim or non-Muslim.

The majority of those who betrayed the country, nation, history, and everything that is sacred, would join their ranks based on their desire for power, their rage, personal ambition or resentments. Many of them had valid reasons during those days. But history, the history that was written later, deemed them as traitors.

That situation greatly resembles what we are faced with today. Those days were days of destruction, whereas these are days of rebuilding. The games played are the same though, the betrayals are the same, the intelligence wars are the same, and the forces and methods employed are the same.

Those committing betrayal today also do not possess any identity. They have no ethnic identity, nor do they have any ideological identity. All types of people from all segments join this chorus. The Lawrences of today can be Islamist, liberal, or the instigators of ethnic-based fights, depending on requirements. Just like those who in that period cuddled up with British intelligence in Istanbul, those of today cozy up to Western intelligence agencies in Istanbul.

Those committing betrayal today also adopt positions on the basis of their rage, grudges, resentments, personal animosity, and their myopic desire for power. Those of today base their positions on logical reasons.

People from all segments of society, ranging from intellectuals to soldiers, businesspersons to community members, and from the most anti-American to the most pro-Western, are putting their names on the wrong side of history by taking up such a position.

We are experiencing a painful episode today similar to the same painful episode that we witnessed in and around 1917 throughout the region, and the stories of which we pass on from generation to generation. Just like us, tomorrow’s generations will jot down the names of those who resisted and those who obstructed Turkey in entirely different contexts.

The people who belittled the nation during those days destroyed the empire and the country. Those who look down on the nation today are once again trying to break the backs of those engaged in the struggle to revive and put the nation back on its feet.

They execute the orders they receive from their bosses to the letter. They try to denigrate the nation and everything else that we hold sacred, and are attempting to reestablish the order of tutelage that existed in the 20th century. They want to transform the region, which Turkey is also a part of, into a region of chaos, and render us incapable of standing on our own feet for another century.

Look at the media, the nongovernmental organizations, politics, universities, economy circles and communities… Take a good look at who is conducting business with each other. Pay attention to who is adopting positions based on the sensitivities of other countries.

You will be able to notice this by looking into their faces and their eyes. You will realize which country’s nongovernmental organization is sustaining the nongovernmental organizations, which constantly speak of democracy and freedom and put forward extremely strong and logical arguments. You will see how these nongovernmental organizations make use of the hidden payments they receive from these countries.

Perhaps we can’t explain ourselves properly, cannot form proper sentences, and do not put up enough of a struggle. But we are sure that we don’t want to relive those years of decline. We want to shut the book of tutelage for good. We are exerting effort to bring Turkey and the entire region back to its feet.

We opted for a Turkey that is great, honorable, free and prosperous. Our words, hearts, and minds are set toward this. It will always be set toward this. We won’t become hostage to pretty words. We will keep our mind alert, won’t pollute it, and keep it free of obsessions. We will resist with all our being against these waves of dark clouds, being sent to cloud our country’s skies, from becoming permanent, and to keep our grand dream from being squashed.

We will counter the campaigns being carried out to tarnish the reputations of the trailblazers, cadres, and circles that have dedicated themselves to working toward taking Turkey into the future, and made this part of their ideals.

We will share in their rage, tears and melancholy. We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them and share their pain.

THE WILL OF UNSUNG HEROES

While doing this we are not journalists, writers, workers, businessmen, officials, soldiers or police. We will all be privates with a debt to this nation, country, and our people.

We will have both palaces and lodges.

We will have both weapons and pens.

We will have both dirges and folksongs.

And we will certainly have our rage too…

The Turkey and the region of today bear remarkable similarity to the period just prior to WW I. The unsung heroes of that period were on the losing side. Now is the time to pick up the flag that they dropped. Divine providence has ordained us to pick up that flag. It has ordained us with fulfilling the will of those heroes.

This is why you should ignore those who have dispersed to whichever country’s front. Ignore those who have succumbed to their weakness and rage and placed themselves on the wrong side of history. We know that history has changed. The direction in which the water flows has changed. The world has changed.

The biggest miracle of that change will be experienced by this country. The flag will be picked up from where it was dropped. These lands that transformed two great shocks into miracles will also transform the third shock.

Take heed and walk alongside those making history. Do not envy those who will be destroyed by their betrayals...