August 16, 2012
Strategic Culture Foundation

Turkey: A Major Target for Destabilization

Turkey's southern borders have been transformed into intelligence and logistical hubs for the CIA and the Mossad

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

If the Syrian state collapses, neighbouring Turkey will be the biggest loser. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government are foolishly aligning Turkey for disaster. Aside from Ankara's historically bad relations with Armenia, Erdogan has managed to singlehandedly alienate Russia and three of Turkey's most important neighbours. This has damaged the Turkish economy and disrupted the flow of Turkish goods. There have been clamp downs on activists too in connection with Turkey's policy against Damascus. The freedom of the Turkish media has been affected as well; Erdogan has moved forward with legislation to restrict media freedoms. Prime Minister Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have even both attacked "reporters who quoted President Assad's statements in Cumhuriyet, accusing them of treason, because they had questioned the official Turkish account of the Turkish jet shot down by in [sic.] Syria [for spying]."

To Turkey's eastern flank tensions are building between it and both Iraq and Iran. Baghdad is reviewing its diplomatic ties with the Turkish government, because Ankara is encouraging the Kurdistan Regional Government in Northern Iraq to act independently of Iraq's federal government. Erdogan's government has done this partially as a result of Baghdad's steadfast opposition to regime change in Syria and in part because of Iraq's strengthening alliance with Iran. Tehran on the other hand has halted the visa-free entry of Turkish citizens into Iran and warned the Turkish government that it is stroking the flames of a regional fire in Syria that will eventually burn Turkey too. . . .

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Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is an award-winning author and geopolitical analyst. He is the author of The Globalization of NATO (Clarity Press) and a forthcoming book The War on Libya and the Re-Colonization of Africa. He has also contributed to several other books ranging from cultural critique to international relations.

"Syria: Observer Mission Report Said To Back Government," The Wisdom Fund, January 27, 2012

Aisling Byrne, "Covering Syria: The Information War," Asia Times, July 12, 2012

M K Bhadrakumar, "A Saudi overture to Iran," Asia Times, August 18, 2012