Turkey, you don’t have any other option

Apparently, we are experiencing one of the toughest periods in our history. 

Russia is passing through the straits, rushing to the assistance of its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Its planes are violating Turkish airspace, but Moscow plays the unacquainted. 

We attempt to reproach Moscow by saying, “Russia would be losing a lot if it loses a friend like Turkey.” 

This time it launches its guided missiles to Syria from the Caspian Sea, transiting both Iran and Iraq…  

It claims it has hit the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but most of their targets are the opposition groups backed by the West and Turkey. 

Things on the U.S. front are not hopeful either. Washington suspended the train and equip program for Syrian opposition it was conducting together with Ankara. As its new ally, Syrian Kurds have emerged in the fight against ISIL. 

Obviously, things in the Middle East will further run off the rails.

Against Russia’s intervention in Syria, those who want al-Assad to be toppled will counterattack by arming their own powers in the field. 

And again, civilians will run away; again they will pile up at the Turkish border and this neighboring country which has adopted an “open door” policy since the beginning will try to protect the victims. 

The U.S., on the other hand, does not have a strong hand against Russia in Syria at the moment. One of the views standing out in the American press is that Washington’s stance in Syria against Russia will be “wait and see” for the moment.  

Obviously, Europe has its own issues. 

It is searching for formulas to manage the refugees who have crossed the Aegean and who are leaning on their door.  

In his Brussels visit last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was welcomed and hosted by the top executives of the European Union for this reason. To send some of the refugees back to Turkey and to keep the newcomers in Turkey… in return for that, some favors could be considered in Turkey’s accession to the EU and an EU without a visa…

It looks as if there is no serious effort in the EU about how to end the war in Syria. 

When it comes to NATO, the statements are rhetoric. The solidarity in question is one when the sparks of war are threatening Turkey they are withdrawing their Patriot missiles…

Obviously, the wrong steps Ankara has taken in Syria have started giving Turkey a hard time. 

The new formations created by the civil war between the al-Assad administration and the opposition, terror organizations acting as a state, the intelligence acts of foreign organizations and the struggle for sharing the region are sending instability and uncertainty to Turkey. 

This soggy atmosphere makes the country open to attacks. People who have gathered to oppose war have fallen victim to bombs; peace banners were soaked in blood. 

And then the news of the martyrs that never seems to end.  

Obviously some things are wrong in Turkey… 

We are separated as Turks and Kurds. We are polarized as secular and Islamist instead of pondering the new difficulties brought by the 21st century; instead of investing in positive sciences…  

We cannot rejoice properly that a Turkish scientist won a Nobel Prize for the first time. As a matter of fact, Professor Aziz Sancar uttered a sentence that is like a lesson to all of us: “I owe this prize to my country and the education launched by the republic era.”  

The values of the republic… Thanks to these values Turkey was able to turn its face to the West, staying away from the brotherly fights of the Middle East. 

Thanks to the republic, it has been able to advance, though interrupted now and then, in democracy, human rights and fundamental rights. 
 
And through this the road to development and economic improvement was opened…

And through this, it showed that Islam and democracy could co-exist under secular conditions. 

Obviously we are going through a tough test. Obviously there are those who have different calculations about this country. But do not forget that the silent majority of this country also has a calculation. It is to protect Turkey’s future. In solidarity and in unity we will stand up to the difficulties in togetherness. We will not fall into provocations. We will exclude provocateurs.

We will overcome this crisis… because we owe this to our children.