The Middle East has been a battleground for the last three decades. Why and how has that all changed now?

The Middle East is such a region that meticulous plans can be turned on their heads overnight. It is a place where fronts are established overnight, and where those fronts can also be similarly thrown out. The Middle East is the world’s center; it is a battlefield for all powers.

Therefore, nobody’s plans ever stick, nor are they ever guaranteed. You could wake up one morning to find out all alliances from the day before have been shattered, and new alliances established in their stead. Yesterday’s foes have become today’s friends, and friends have become foes.

It is impossible to resolve even tribal conflicts in the Middle East in a decade, let alone wars. You cannot prolong permanent alliances for more than a year. 

The world’s superpowers are constantly launching interventions in this region. This is the underlying cause. It is due to the fact that no country, no nation is able to freely establish its own presence; they are not allowed to do this.

Almost all of the world’s wars in the last three decades have taken place in this region. This alone is sufficient to explain the ambiguity. All states located between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf suffered the consequences of these wars.

It seems like the Middle East is fighting its own civil war, while in fact, it is paying the price of central powers’ battle for sovereignty. Thus, it is not a world that can be perceived or where ties can be sustained through petty statements or shallow thoughts.

A mindless, senseless, malevolent discussion is afoot over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Certain circles plotting to drive Turkey to war with the region have unleashed their gangs on the field, arbitrarily launching attacks because they’ve lost their opportunity to do so.

More than a million people died during the invasion of Iraq. We have witnessed great wars, millions of deaths, collapsed countries, destroyed cities since the Iraq-Iran war. One of history’s most ruthless, most bloody periods took place in this region.

Perhaps for the first time ever, these wars started have to shift away from the Middle East, toward European borders. This is an opportunity that will relieve the region. Regardless of political plans and personal interests, Turkey needs to strengthen and support this, to strengthen the circles of alliance within the region.

But how did we reach this stage? What gave rise to this opportunity? Why are countries that were our enemies until three years ago, that were engaged in indirect wars against one another normalizing relations now? What changed in the world? What changed in the region?

Let us recall:

The U.S., Israel and, the UAE built an anti-Turkey Arab front only a few years ago. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt also joined this front. It was promoted as “normalization” against the Iranian threat, but its objective was to topple Erdoğan and stop Turkey.

This operation, which was launched immediately after the 2016 coup attempt, was in coordination with the political front within, as well as the terrorist front. It was actually a strategy developed as a substitute for the coup attempt.

They were planning to attack through terrorism, through the new internal political front, but this time they were also going to attack through a formidable regional front.

This front fought against Turkey in Libya, in Karabakh, and in northern Syria. It cooperated with the U.S., France, Greece, and Israel in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. It made military deals, energy deals, and joint drills.

This front supported the coup in Sudan, and attempted to attack Turkey in Somalia, battling Turkey’s presence in Africa. It also attempted to invade Turkey’s ally Qatar.

It supported the opposition, the media, and the terrorist organizations within. It sustained financial wars against Turkey through lobbies and finance hubs. The U.S. and Israel resorted to isolating Turkey in the region through this front. This was never a secret.

As all this transpired, Turkey stood firm and upright. Instead of acting in accordance with their actions, it gave prominence to its own geopolitical plans, and built an incredible power domain. Turkey proved to the whole world that it is “unstoppable.”

The sudden U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, it reducing its power in the Middle East and directing its focus on the Pacific region, and European borders being threatened instilled panic in the region.

A power void started to form. China, Russia, and Asian powers started to gain prominence. The West’s influence was weakening globally. 

That is when the front collapsed. It collapsed suddenly and silently. Those very front countries turned their sights toward Turkey. Turkey had presented a calm and patient stance against their peevishness, and was always open to all areas of cooperation. It saw the results as well.

Turkey was not the one that changed its position. We were not the ones who made a “U-turn.” Turkey acted in accordance with a long-term policy. The front established against it could not resist this firm stance. It fell apart. Those countries changed their position. They saw the light.

They started sending Turkey warm messages, one after the other. Those who were attacking Turkey on all fronts, those who built alliances aimed at disabling it, are now starting to invest in Turkey’s rising power.

This is both extremely healthy and necessary for the region. Enmities will be reduced, areas of conflict will be narrowed down. Countries will reap mutual benefits, leading to the formation of a regional power domain. This is where everyone’s interests lie.

Just as we severely criticized those who declared covert war against Turkey, we will similarly support those normalizing relations with the country. If they present the same animosity again in the future, we will stand against them once more.

We believe in the common good. We know that malevolence and enmity bring destruction to the whole region. We witnessed dozens of examples and the tragic results they bore.

Those in the West and those within, who are taking advantage of areas of regional conflict, protested against Turkey normalizing relations with countries like the UAE. They are positively seething. They are attacking Turkey despite these realities, like a foreign threat.

The most important question is, “Why are you so mad?” It is because their key weapon has been taken away from them. They lost another front to attack Erdoğan and Turkey.

We will see the strongest reflections of this within. They lost their most critical financial, political, and lobbying source.

We, however, are standing in the same position, and we always will be.

We are on Turkey’s axis. We view Turkey, the region, and the world from here. We are not on the terror axis, in European capitals, on the U.S.-Israel axis, at the East or West gates.