Did Bahçeli stand in the “Right Place” during the Syrian crisis?

Just 7 months ago, MHP Leader Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı), proposed “building a bridge of cooperation between Ankara and Damascus” and “conducting military operations in coordination against the terrorist organization.” However, in a written statement yesterday regarding “developments in Syria,” he described how the Assad regime, which had been rotting from head to toe in a Syria plagued by massive crises since March 2011, collapsed on December 8 with all its malice and calamity, and how the Syrian people broke their rusted chains of captivity to achieve freedom. He stated the following:

“Turkey has stood in the right place during the 13-year Syrian crisis, has essentially defended the morals and principles of neighborhood law meticulously, and has not stopped there, but has always remained committed to them... With the national and vigilant policies of our President and the Presidential Cabinet, our Damascus Embassy has been opened, the Turkish flag has been hoisted, and our position on the field and at the table has been consolidated.”

Coincidentally, after yesterday's AKP MKYK meeting, Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik also made the following assessment:

“Our President's leadership led the way for Turkey to stand on the right side of history. Despite the difficulties of this process, our state and nation stood on the right side of history.”

''IN ORDER TO GET A PAT ON THE BACK FROM THE US''

So, shall we look at where MHP Leader Bahçeli stood during the first years of the 13-year Syrian crisis?

As the footsteps of the civil war in Syria were being heard on February 1, 2011, he reminded everyone that “before us lies the example of Iraq, which was dragged into complete chaos and uncertainty while wanting to get rid of a dictator, and where millions of people were victimized and massacred,” and claimed that “a new and advanced stage of the Washington-originated ‘Greater Middle East Project’ (BOP), of which Prime Minister Erdoğan is a co-chair, has begun.”

On February 8, 2011, he listed the countries targeted by the BOP and noted the following in summary:

“The point that needs to be paid attention to is the assessment of whether it will be Turkey's turn within the scope of the BOP, and this is an extremely dangerous issue. There is no guarantee that the global power, which calls on the Egyptian government—which it supported until yesterday—to ‘listen to the street’ for protesters who have taken to the streets today, whether justified or not, will not call on the AKP government tomorrow to ‘shake hands’ with the insurgent PKK after a violent act... Most dangerously, as long as Erdoğan is in power, it is not possible to stand against and resist such base and imperialist demands. Those who act as spokespersons for the US in the Middle East today should know that while we have many problems within ourselves, they are preparing the ground for others to interfere in our internal affairs with the policies they prefer. The Prime Minister, who must realize that he is playing with fire, must avoid every step that will endanger our survival for the sake of getting a pat on the back from the US and gaining power by adopting that country's policies. Otherwise, he should not forget that while he says ‘we will not watch from the stands,’ he will not be able to avoid being the captain of a team that leaves the field it entered defeated, weary, and covered in wounds.”

Let us also listen to the following warnings and criticisms made by Bahçeli from the second half of 2011 after the civil war began:

July 11, 2011: “Relations, especially with Syria and Libya, are completely confused and are progressing in line with the West's goals... The AKP mentality, which is progressing with the prompting of the West, establishing close contact with dissidents in turbulent countries will bring a difficult period for our country. Our advice is to look at developments in neighboring geographies from the vision of the capital Ankara and to constantly take into account the possibility of problems there spilling over into our country... One of the important issues that should be paid attention to is this: The internal affairs of Muslim and friendly countries should not be interfered with, external interventions should not be condoned, and subcontracting should not be done.”

August 12, 2011: “Prime Minister Erdoğan's inclusion of Turkey as a supporting actor in the fragmentation and chaos scenario aimed at neighboring geographies, which finds its mediocrity in the projection of the BOP, has been shameful and worrying in every respect... While Prime Minister Erdoğan says ‘we have no patience left’ for Syria, he is actually conveying the opinions of the US... The MHP warns Prime Minister Erdoğan and his party, wants them to move away from a mistake that will throw Turkey into the fire, and thinks that cheap displays of heroism will lead to very heavy costs.”

August 25, 2011: “Hosting, supporting, and even providing financial aid to both Syrian and Libyan dissidents in Turkey is an unacceptable situation and a hypocrisy for which an account will definitely be asked... How will Prime Minister Erdoğan talk about our regional reputation and credibility as a country from now on, having taken sides so much by aligning with global powers in the internal problems of neighboring countries?.. Those who cannot stomach the Turkish nation making Anatolia its home for 940 years are slowly succeeding in their ambitions. The AKP government, which cannot perceive this obvious danger, has entered into an alliance in the background while fighting with Israel in the foreground, and has made moves to empty the surroundings of Iran.”

November 15, 2011: “The BOP has worked flawlessly and made progress until today. Now it is Syria's turn, and the Assad administration has been determined as the target... BOP Co-Chair Erdoğan... has stabbed whoever he declared as a friend or brother in the back. As far as it is understood, Prime Minister Erdoğan has adopted and internalized being a supporting actor in a global scenario, an outpost of a bloody game and plan... By directing Israel to Iran and Turkey to Syria, all components of a regional ruin are being completed... Undoubtedly, grabbing a role in the play written by global powers will relieve him and his party for a short time and will be useful in closing the gaps in the economy by encouraging the entry of foreign capital. However, the destruction and defeat it will cause in the long run could reach a level that cannot be compensated for both him and our nation.”

November 19, 2011: “Prime Minister Erdoğan's words about Syria are very dangerous... It is necessary to follow not the guidance of the BOP, but the vision of the capital Ankara and the national path determined by Turkish history... The AKP mentality, which blames the administrations for the blood shed in Syria and Libya within the scope of the BOP, is essentially lost in the labyrinths of double standards... There is no need for a direct invasion by the US for now. Instead, there are those who have become agents of imperialism and are enthusiastically doing what is required.”

''UNFORGIVABLE IMMORALITY''

December 6, 2011: “Do not forget that Turkishness, the Turkish nation, and the Republic of Turkey are the last stop of the BOP, and this satanic project cannot reach its goal without this stop being liquidated... To think that this Vice President [Biden], who praises the AKP and says that Turkey has shown real leadership in Syria, came to Turkey from thousands of kilometers away just to flatter the Government would be an inexplicable naivety. The skin tailored for the AKP is now wanted to be laid out for Syria, and the tactical and strategic steps in this regard are being revealed one after another.”

December 8, 2011: “From the very beginning, the AKP Government has remained caught in the gears of a bloody game whose prompter is the West and whose guide is the BOP, and has approached events with the eyes and perspective of foreign capitals... The fall or toppling of Damascus will open the door to incidents of high gravity that will be very difficult to compensate for and replace. Know that the BOP earthquake will not stop after Damascus; this Crusader sedition and violence will advance by taking Tehran and Ankara into its field of vision. The goal is the reorganization of borders, administrations, and maps. The goal is the re-establishment of new bloody faces and authoritarian understandings. And the goal is the reconsideration of economic interests and the drying up of the lifeblood of the Middle East and the Islamic world... The policy pursued by the AKP in Syria is carrying water to the mill of those with such intentions and thoughts... While saying we will not be with the oppressors, preparing the ground for real oppression; being the precursor to divisions and fights will be an unforgivable immorality and malice... Within the scope of the Eastern Question in our region, a four-part Greater Kurdistan is planned in the lands of Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, and this is being advanced step by step. After Baghdad and Damascus, the transformation of Ankara and Tehran is the priority target for this.”

Let us also give two examples from Bahçeli's stance in 2012.

On February 7, stating that the “Damascus experts” who blamed Assad for the massacre in Homs “without clarifying whether the attacks originated from the dissidents or the Assad regime” were making assessments in the way the West wanted, he said:

“What happened in Syria, where there was not even a trace of the destruction and bloody struggle of today a year ago, that now everywhere is in turmoil and brutal acts and mass executions have become evident? The answer to this question will emerge by itself when the Prime Minister explains how he suddenly went from brotherhood with Syrian President Assad to hostility. As you know, the AKP government was almost the first to take a front against Syria... The AKP should abandon its style of only considering and protecting the dissidents, and should mobilize international circles for a broad environment of dialogue and communication, and Syria must definitely be prevented from falling into a bloody occupation... The AKP, which told Saddam to ‘go’ in 2003, is calling on Assad with the same tempo today... I hope that the AKP, which followed France and others in Libya, will not repeat the same mistake in Syria and drag the Turkish nation into an endless adventure.”

On August 6, 2012, Bahçeli emphasized that “open partisanship in the fighting and internal strife in Syria destroys our national interests and prepares the ground for the awakening of a century-old Sèvres dream,” and said, “It has been better understood day by day what kind of vise and hellish torment this mindset, which is the agency of the BOP, has put our country into.”

DOES IT MEAN AN ''APOLOGY'' FROM THE AKP?

One way or another, since the Assad regime has collapsed, does it not mean that it is understood that it is not Turkey, but the AKP that “stood in the right place during the 13-year Syrian crisis,” and that Bahçeli, who wore out his tongue talking about the “BOP” threat, stood in the wrong place?

Bahçeli's statement yesterday could also mean an admission of this “mistake” and an indirect apology to the AKP, but the subject we are curious about is something else.

You know, at the Parliament's opening reception, he had said to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, whom he criticized severely, “We are not hurting each other, I hope. Don't be upset, sometimes there are things we have to say politically, as a requirement of politics.” I wonder if what he said yesterday about the BOP-Syria-AKP issue was also a “requirement of politics”?

Since it is the future of the country, the nation, and the state that is at stake, it is impossible not to be “upset”!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

December 18, 2024