The underlying reason why 9 states joined forces against Türkiye today

The Dutch, Swiss, Swedish, U.K., Germany, Belgium, France, and Italy closed their Istanbul consulates for a certain period, citing security threats, at the behest and coercion of the U.S. Though this move by the nine countries drew reactions from various segments in Türkiye, the underlying reason is not very clear. Considering these countries’ dirty history, and recalling the recent despicable attacks, particularly on Islam’s primary sources, it would be wrong to identify their anti-Türkiye sentiment as an ordinary and periodical event. Those who explain colonialism and imperialism as the fault of Muslims and the “people without history” living in the region, remaining silent in the face of the attacks targeting religious sources is, of course, understandable. Even though they may show indifference to this, their present hostility cannot be comprehended without taking into account that dirty history.

The intellectuals and academics, who led the European countries’ new invasion and occupation attempts in the Islamic region, at a time when quite general oppositions such as East-West conflicts applied, were powerful figures. Though they were no different from those today, they would create an impact in even the Islamic region when they spoke from within the orientalist tradition. Therefore, today, at a time these nine countries closed their Istanbul consulates, a figure like Henry Barkey, well-known for his intelligence identity, coming to the fore is noteworthy. It is truly not our job to discuss whether this is a loss for those countries. However, it must be our job to know and care about Barkey’s “connection” and “affiliation” with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). This person, along with Graham Fuller, played an important role in the FETÖ ring leader becoming established as an anti-Türkiye religious and political power. Barkey was directly involved in anti-Türkiye acts since the 2013 Gezi Park events. Hence, in the article published in the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations’ bimonthly magazine, Foreign Affairs Publication, Barkey carrying his anti-Türkiye attitude to the next level was not surprising at all. In fact, those who were involved in heated debates in order to clear Barkey’s name after July 15 were not surprised about the article. Everybody knew what he did.

We mentioned the U.S., The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.K., Germany, Belgium, France, and Italy’s dirty history. The countries mentioned in terms of their five-century Western hegemony create an alignment. As this hegemony is collapsing today, we can even say that their system is collapsing over them. An act, such as a direct attack on religious sources – which really needs to be scorned – being generalized in a way that places a whole society under responsibility, shows that the collapse theme must not be taken lightly. This generalization covering the dependent structures included in the devshirme is extremely important. The collapse theme including them as well is a part of life’s quirks. They have already started fighting Islam.

In contrast to U.S.-led alignments, can we see the countries campaigning for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to be nominated as candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize as an alignment as well? Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Speaker Mustafa Şentop listed the countries supporting Erdoğan's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Türkiye as Pakistan, Indonesia, Hungary, Japan, Bangladesh, Algeria, Oman, Mali, Gabon, and Niger. It is not difficult to guess that President Erdoğan and those around him have certain hesitancies regarding the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite this, Erdoğan being nominated as a candidate is more important than whether he eventually receives the prize. The countries supporting Erdoğan's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize are thus giving a major message to both Türkiye and the world right now. In this sense, these countries may be considered an alignment as well.

The countries supporting President Erdoğan's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize are located in Central Europe, Africa, and Asia. These countries are on different continents. This presents a wide range of religious identities. Considering the support for Türkiye’s previous Palestine initiative in the UN, the value of the picture today is better understood. In fact, the whole world is giving a strong message to West European countries and the U.S. However, they are challenging the whole world through direct attacks on religious sources. This needs to be discussed separately.