A bit of Ottoman, a bit of the Ummah, a bit of Fahreddin Pasha, and plenty of Mehmetçik!

The Mecca Defense Alliance has convened.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan have decided to implement joint defense commitments regarding the security threats facing Saudi Arabia and to take the necessary measures to rapidly deploy agreed-upon military forces and capabilities to Saudi Arabia.

In other words, we see that the matter has moved beyond the three countries' rhetoric of "we have signed a joint defense agreement," and has entered the phase of actually operating the mechanism and transferring military capacity.

The details that concern us are currently vague.

How many Mehmetçik (Turkish soldiers)?

Which units?

Which weapons systems?

What mission?

For how long?

Under what conditions will they engage in conflict?

There are no answers to these yet. Because the government is sharing almost no details about the matter with the public.

We have no idea how much it concerns the supreme interests of the country politically, or on what legal basis it rests. Because the text they pushed on us as the "Mecca Agreement" is merely a declaration of intent.

That is to say, it is not a treaty, nor is it a comprehensive agreement, a memorandum of understanding, or a cooperation protocol!

But do not worry.

What comes next is the job of the public relations department…

Because with the AKP government, strategic justifications no longer have any importance in explaining a decision regarding foreign policy.

The government has no concern for generating social consent from a rational perspective; we have understood this quite well by now.

The formula for hoodwinking the people of my country is clear, and it has always worked so far.

A bit of Ottoman...

A bit of the Ummah...

A bit of talk about my grandfather Abdülhamit Han…

A bit of "holy lands" demagoguery…

A bit of Fahreddin Pasha...

With plenty of Mehmetçik on top...

And when they add the attractions created with the possibilities of artificial intelligence to these, they have solved the issue quite nicely, and the rest is not very important anyway.

For example, a Turkish flag draped over the Kaaba, a Mehmetçik standing guard in front of it, alongside an Altay tank, or Kaan or Bayraktar drones in the sky!

Let us not forget the Mehter March either…

Once they write "Mehmetçik in the holy lands" in the background, the job is done. After that, who will dare to question the sending of Turkish soldiers to Saudi Arabia? Come on, let the opposition parties criticize it if they dare; they would be labeled as traitors to the homeland or enemies of Islam in no time…

What about Article 92 of the Constitution!

If the Constitution is still in force in Turkey, the primary authority for sending troops to foreign countries belongs to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

There is no room for debate on this, or there should not be.

That article states: "The authority to permit the declaration of a state of war in cases deemed legitimate by international law, and the sending of the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or the presence of foreign armed forces in Turkey, except in cases required by international treaties to which Turkey is a party or by international rules of courtesy, belongs to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey."

Of course, someone will come out and say, "Does anyone care about the Constitution?"

Indeed, that is the case…

We know that the government does not get hung up on the Constitution and solves matters as it sees fit with a Presidential decree when it suits them. But this is not like withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention with a single signature, ignoring the decisions of the Constitutional Court, or disregarding the secularism principle of the Constitution.

Where the Mehmetçik is sent, why they are sent, and under what conditions they will fight should not be an ordinary decision made by the government alone.

However, we have now learned the formula the government applies for this and similar issues:

Instead of discussing the political or legal dimension of the decision, they weave a story around it, and then there is no problem.

It is simple, useful, and costs almost nothing.

For example, let us say the defense of Medina by Ottoman soldiers under the command of Fahreddin Pasha between June 1916 and January 1919…

The Pasha did not surrender even after the Armistice of Mudros; the Medina garrison continued its resistance despite the contrary order of the Istanbul government, and finally, on January 10, 1919, they were forced to raise the white flag.

When the Turkish soldier goes, if they do go, their first task will be to quickly circulate the defense of Medina like a political commercial; let no one have any doubt about that.

Then they will put the Mehmetçik of a hundred-plus years ago and today's Mehmetçik into the same story; the security of Saudi Arabia, the regional calculations of imperialists, and Turkey's own interests will be forgotten; they will just stir up the people of my country with enthusiasm through "Mehmetçik" literature!

Mehmetçik is already the most useful word in politics!

Who can oppose the Mehmetçik? Who can say "no" to the security of the holy lands?

The line between the government's propaganda and national security gradually blurs. And if you pour the sauce of "leadership of the Islamic world" on top of this, it is the icing on the cake…

Turkey is the hope of the Ummah!

Turkey is the protector of the region!

Turkey is the leader of the Islamic world!

Of course, all roads lead to the Reis (the President). To even think the opposite, let alone say it, would be an exercise in futility. Because the finale of the story must definitely contain a saga of leadership and heroism.

Let us also note that these are definitely necessary for the Reis for a possible early election. In other words, another case of killing several birds with one stone…

When this is the case, once the government presents itself as the natural continuation of history, there is nothing left to discuss!

However, the real danger lies here.

The legitimacy of a military decision being detached from security justifications and produced through sanctity… None of the examples in recent history have ended with a happy ending.

I wonder if they know this?

In short, the government must, one way or another, clearly tell the people of my country.

Why are we going?

For whom are we going?

How long will we stay?

What price are we prepared to pay?

Fine, the holy lands are sacred to the people of my country. We are not debating that, but the life of the Mehmetçik is also sacred. His blood cannot be used to generate legitimacy for the government's foreign policy.

Although, that is how things work in Turkey now.

It is not difficult to predict the headlines or social media buzz of the day after:

"The holy lands are once again entrusted to the Mehmetçik."

The next day:

"Turkey has assumed the leadership of the Islamic world."

Then:

"A historic message from the Reis: A new era begins."

In the end, we will all listen to the same story together.

But whether the people of my country will stand up and ask, "Who gave you the authority to spill the blood of our children in the Arab deserts?" is uncertain, so let us put a period to our article by saying that.