“Those who ask, ‘What business does Turkey have in Syria?’ are actually those bemoaning why terrorist organizations are still operating in Syria rather than in our country.”
If this statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was said to ordinary people, they would become stone cold from grief and shame. In terms of their interlocutors, it is almost part of their daily dues.
Can there possibly be those who sincerely do not understand the question, “What business does Turkey have in Syria?” and its answers?
Yes, there is such a possibility.
We are in Syria because:
One, we want to prevent unregulated migration. Even in this state we can see how detrimental the situation has become.
Two, we do not want Syria to join Iraq, in which our units have been conducting anti-terrorism efforts for decades.
Three, we are battling “foreign fighters” and Daesh, which is also a part of our international responsibility.
Four, it is true, we want to preserve the maneuvering area we fought to open – and, as a matter of fact, broaden it – during our diplomacy efforts. If they continue to push us like this, we we will further expand it.
Five, we are in Syria because we are striving to leave behind a legacy that only very few of those that are currently in power will see, probably for the first time in Turkey, 50 years later, and can have no political expectation anyway. If this cannot be achieved, Turkey will be downsized for future generations.
Six, we are in Syria to bury them in the strategic grave, which is currently referred to as the “terror corridor” and spreads from Iran to the Mediterranean and from Northern Iraq to the Mediterranean, and which was, in fact, dug up to draw in Turkey.
Seven, we are in Syria to cut off the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), its Syrian wing Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed militia People’s Protection Units (YPG), and to both intercept their path to Cyprus and eliminate them.
Eight, nobody would say it openly, but we are also here to stop Iran. Because this will be the siege of another death pit, of sectarian wars.
Nine, the siege in this sense is also the one corner that a massive map joins. It is a China course that has today reached Greece and from there – you are reading this for the first time – from Pireas to Budapest and that includes not only Russia and the U.S. but also in which Macedonia-Belgrade are ready.
Ten, we are in Syria for the destruction of this line or, if necessary, to pressure it from the start to accept conditions in which we too can be included.
Eleven, we are there for the East Mediterranean and Cyprus, whose connection is now tangible because Northern Cyprus's President Mustafa Akıncı has also revolted.
Twelve, we are there for Iraq; Baghdad turning into a “war front” can result in a political void spreading to Northern Iraq and the Persian Gulf. We are there so that we do not have to once again deal with another “modified map” that will end up right under our noses.
Thirteen, we are there for the Israel-Jordon-Deal of the Century Plan-Jerusalem line, as well as their plans concerning Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia and Egypt.
Fourteen, we are in Syria because Libya is the gateway to the Mediterranean and Africa. We are there so that those who are unable to see the doors, paths and routes by looking at the distance between them can comprehend France’s official invite to Khalifa Haftar.
Fifteen, we are there for energy and its routes. For now, we do not have oil and natural gas, but we have routes. We are in Syria to establish and protect them and, once our conditions have matured, to have “them” sit at the energy table.
Sixteen, we are in Syria to balance Russia: sometimes to stop it and at other times to help.
Seventeen, we are there so that they can understand that their telling us to withdraw from Idlib, strike a deal with Bashar Assad, and abandon M4-M5 deals in fact mean that we should let the millions of innocent people who have taken shelter in our country die.
Eighteen, we are there so that our old allies, the U.S. and NATO, that are glorifying us nowadays, have no presence there, so that nobody can place sacks over our heads again, so that our generals’ jets are not sabotaged, and so that our children do not die on bridges.
Nineteen, we are there so that European Union countries that have recently undertaken roles as flank guards because they lack power do not become the prime actors and stab us in the back in the East while smiling to our faces – as they did in the West.
Twenty, we are in Syria because the Black Sea-Caspian Sea-Persian Gulf-the Mediterranean-the Aegean and, in fact, Canal Istanbul/Marmara have turned into a single basin, so that the Blue Homeland becomes the heart of them all.
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There is more, but how can they all be tackled at once? Ankara is striving to find a way, to manage and strike a balance. If it is enough to provide an example of one day alone, among all this hustle and bustle, this is the reason the Defense Ministry is present at the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Brussels, the Foreign Ministry is present at the Security Conference in Munich, the president is in Pakistan, our top-level delegation is in Moscow, and our journalists are following the elections in Baku and Tehran.
What are we going to say to those who have been lazing around throughout their entire political career, the ones who have nothing else to do but to fan internal flames in an effort to set the whole country on fire?
The same thing, of course: “Those who ask, ‘What business does Turkey have in Syria?’ are actually those who bemoan why terrorist organizations are still operating in Syria rather than in our country.”
