Turkey and the Middle East Quagmire: Learning from Pakistan’s Experience
By Dr Qaisar Abbas
Maryland
Standing at the mausoleum of Moulana Rum in Konya, Turkey, I am thinking about this great Sufi’s message of peace for mankind but the thought that just over 600 kilometers from here the very concept of peace is being threatened, sends a chill to the bones.
This part of my ten-day visit to Turkey seems to be the most exciting and troubling experience at the same time.
Exciting because my dream of visiting the resting place of this 13th century poet and peacemaker has finally come true and troubling because a new threat to peace is emerging across the Turkish border in Kobani, Syria which might impact Turkey in important ways in the future.
My first impression of Turkey as a nation where modernity and tradition exist side by side, comes from my observation from the architecture, the attire and cultural manifestation in Istanbul, Izmir, Konya and Ankara, the cities I visited.
These national emblems represent both a traditional lifestyle and modernity with a great degree of tolerance and tranquility.
Modern Turkey as a secular Muslim nation at the crossroads of Europe and Asia is a creation of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, popularly known as Kemal Ataturk after World War I.
Analysis of strong sociopolitical and religious dynamics, however, reveals the intense political and cultural struggle that goes on in today’s Turkey.
There are indications that religious, not necessarily militant, tendencies have been slowly becoming part of an emerging image of this nation during the last decade or so. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have something to do with it.
Erdogan’s popularity rests on his successful vision of reviving the Turkish lackluster economy to an astounding economic power. That’s why he has been at the realms of power for so long first as an elected prime minister and then as powerful president.
True, his religious policies have been transforming the nation’s image from secular to a more traditional nation which is so apparent not only from shifting trends in the Turkish culture but also from Erdogan’s geopolitical strategies. From supporting the conservative Ikhwan in Egypt to allowing Muslim fighters to cross the Turkish border into Syria, there are several controversial measures he has taken as part of his vision to deal with the Middle East crisis.
Besides the identity of Turkey as a modern and traditional nation, keeping terrorism out of the border is the third dimension that poses a tremendous challenge to today’s Turkey.
In the wake of American pressure to join the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Erdogan’s reluctance for fully participating in the conflict next door probably demonstrates his strategy to engage with the Syrian crisis vigilantly.
His overall goals seem to be ousting Bashar al-Assad from power, sending Syrian refugees back home and circumventing the impact of militancy inside Turkey.
Before engaging itself completely in the Middle East mayhem, however, Turkey might learn from other Muslim nations who are now suffering from terrorism because of their misguided policies in the past.
Pakistan’s military dictator, General Ziaul Haq, for instance, allowed to use the military and its resources to become part of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1980s. With American funding and armaments, a huge fighting force of Mujahedeen was created. The monster of Taliban, a byproduct of this process, has now become an enormous terrorist threat to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan, as a result, has become a playing ground for widespread terrorism, militancy, sectarian violence, religious intolerance and narcotics smuggling.
The recent massacre of 133 school children in Peshawar is just one example in a series of terrorist attacks killing a large number of men, women, children, religious minorities and ethnic groups.
Because of its geopolitical location, it seems to be difficult for Turkey to isolate itself from the ongoing chaos in the Middle East, militancy could be checked effectively at this early stage.
Coming back from Konya to Istanbul I realize, with its magnificent palaces, splendid churches and glorious mosques, this nation has been home to Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Seljuk and Ottoman empires for centuries.
With this historical legacy, mixed with its geopolitical realities of today, Turkey offers a promising future as an aspiring Muslim nation that could also become an economic and cultural link between Europe and the rest of the world.
Turkey seems to be at a historical juncture and its decisions today will determine whether the resting place of the great ambassador of human tranquility, Moulana Rum, would remain a peaceful nation or it will be immersed into the folds of militancy tomorrow.
(Qaisar Abbas, PhD, is a university professor/administrator, media analyst and political commentator based in Maryland, United States. He has worked as a News Producer for Pakistan TV and Information Officer in the province of Punjab. He can be reached at qaabbas@gmail.com )
