What does the US flag in the Mediterranean mean?

Following Israel's bombing of a hospital in Gaza, which massacred 478 lives including babies, children, and women, in the words of the pro-government media, the "Ummah is standing tall."

What did our state do?

Erdoğan called on all of humanity to take action, described the atrocity as an "attack amounting to genocide," and condemned the perpetrators. He also emphasized that those who pour gasoline on the fire with their statements are just as responsible for the massacre as the perpetrators themselves.

How moderate the expressions are for Erdoğan, who would normally be expected to shake the heavens and the earth!..

Our other officials also reacted. For example, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said that "even if they escape the torment of history, they will not be able to escape the wrath of God." he said.

Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler said, "This is the point where humanity ends."

The 6 parties in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), which have become almost unable to act together even on the most vital issues, issued a declaration "invitingworld parliaments, the international community, and organizations to take a stance and initiative to stop this brutality" they called.

Former Minister of Justice and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Bekir Bozdağ and current Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç stated that Israel's actions constitute both crimes against humanity and war crimes; however, even if only on paper, none of our Prosecutor's Offices were mobilized.

Ultimately, three days of national mourning were declared.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting the other day. While the "Ummah is standing"—as if describing the state of our nation—he expressed the following:

"Until now, we have met on urgent issues, condemned them, and dispersed. For the purpose to be achieved, we must not leave it at that this time."

WHO DID THE ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER RESPOND TO?

After the war that began with Hamas's attack on October 7, the US sent its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to support Israel. You know, the ship where we recently held joint exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean and where Erdoğan's son-in-law, Selçuk Bayraktar, was hosted.

Following that, the UK also sent Royal Navy ships to the Eastern Mediterranean for Israel as well.

Finally It is reported that the USS Mount Whitney, the command and control ship of the US 6th Fleet, has set sail. This ship also anchored at the Sarayburnu Port in Istanbul in August; US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake organized a press tour on the ship for the Turkish media and stated, "[The ship's] visit is an opportunity to further strengthen our deep military partnership with Turkey to contribute to creating a safe and prosperous region."

Furthermore, the Americans hosted a reception on this ship for high-level officials and members of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Now, let us recall what Erdoğan said to the US after the departure of the first US ship.

"What is an American aircraft carrier doing in Israel, what is it coming to do?.. It will take steps toward very serious massacres there by striking and leveling the entire Gaza and its surroundings." and he said, "Mr. America, for heaven's sake, where is America; where are the Mediterranean, Israel, and Palestine? What business do you have there?.."

Erdoğan's these questions were answered indirectly first by the US media, and then by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

US media reported that although the fleets sent to the Mediterranean are intended to be "temporary," a long-term US presence in the Middle East is on the agenda.

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant, following a war cabinet meeting attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, stated, "This war will be long and costly, but we will win," and noted the following:

"Everyone knows what it means for the American flag to fly in the Mediterranean."

WHAT WAS THE REAL AGENDA AT THE NATO SUMMIT?

What could that "meaning" that everyone knows be?!

What comes to my mind is the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, where Sweden's membership was ostensibly being discussed, and the "secret" agenda of that summit. Specifically:

It emerged that at the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting held in Brussels on June 15-16, prior to the summit, the most comprehensive Regional Defense Plan prepared by NATO since the end of the Cold War was discussed, but that this plan was not officially approved due to some reservations from Turkey, and the decision was left to the leaders' summit.

Information surfaced that these highly classified and never-discussed plans contained proposals regarding our country such as: "referencing the Montreux Convention to allow the use of Greek names for the Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits, and omitting the TRNC from coordinates related to Cyprus."

Yet, even these scraps of information were enough to show that the US and NATO have serious and new calculations in both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Indeed, following the Defense Ministers Meeting in June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made the following statement:

“Regional plans will be one of the most important topics of the Vilnius summit. These plans were prepared by our military command and their teams. For the first time since the Cold War, such plans are being prepared. These are plans related to the deployment of special forces, linked to specific regions and specific missions where NATO is expected to be more protected. Plans that include more power and more resources.”

Subsequently, security consultant, author, activist, and founder of NATO Watch, Ian Davis, reported on the portal Responsible Statecraft that “for the first time since the Cold War, thousands of pages of secret military plans detailing how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack will be submitted to NATO’s political leaders for approval.”

Surprisingly, however, somehow the Anadolu Agency also detailed these plans and provided the following summary information:

“These secret plans were created for three regions. The first includes the Atlantic and Northern Europe under the leadership of the NATO Joint Force Command in Norfolk, USA; the second includes the Central European region stretching from the Baltics to the Alps under the responsibility of the NATO base in Brunssum, Netherlands; and the third includes the region from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea under the responsibility of the NATO base in Naples, Italy.

The plans determine which forces will be deployed in these regions in land, sea, air, space, and cyber domains, when and how they will be deployed, and how they will act in the event of a threat. Within the scope of the plans, NATO aims for a force of approximately 300,000 soldiers to be transferred to the eastern flank within a maximum of 30 days.”

It was clear that the third region, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, concerned our country, especially regarding the Aegean and Mediterranean, as well as the Montreux Convention.

Following the start of the Palestine-Israel war, it is clear that as of today, we must evaluate all future developments—primarily the deployment of US and British warships to the Eastern Mediterranean and the announcement that "all NATO allies are in solidarity with Israel"—within the scope of this NATO "Regional Defense Plan."

Our questions are as follows:

While the government focused the entire attention of the Turkish nation on Sweden's NATO membership at the summit in Vilnius, did it approve those secret NATO plans or not?

If it did, was "Israel's security" included in these plans?

If it was, why is it surprised and angry at these reckless actions by Israel and imperialism?

Müyesser YILDIZ
October 20, 2023