The East’s rising powers, the West’s old partners and the reality of the ‘Turkey axis’: We will not be the military force on anybody’s borders

Turkey is no longer a country that will be pigeon-holed into strategic value definitions such as the “bridge between two continents,” “the West’s front country” and as “the Atlantic Alliance’s outpost” in its own region. All of the geopolitical definitions to date must be disabled.

All definitions must be renewed based on our own country, our own region, our own history, our own future plans, our own threat perceptions, and our own interests and priorities.

Plans organized to serve Western interests must be laid on the table and reviewed based on Turkey’s “new status.” Just as it became understood that the “Turkey-Israel axis” was a project based on destroying this country, and it was hence walked away from, security perceptions remaining from the Cold War period and alliance chains must all be re-evaluated, and some must be forsaken at once. Such a “conservative” view must be abandoned and the corporate mind must be renewed.

Just as the intentions of those who mobilized Turkey to protect Israel have been questioned, the agreements, alliances and plans that have turned this country into the protection shield of the U.S. and European Union countries must also be questioned.

We are no longer a country that will assume the undertaking of the EU or its members, protect their borders on their behalf, keep the refugee influx in its own lands and relieve the EU. We are not their soldiers, border guards nor a country that will lose sleep so that Europe can sleep well.

We fought on their behalf since the 1950s, we died for their security and welfare, and we killed each other and became friends or foes according to their fancies. We took sides in politics, fought our kin, turned on each other based on their preferences.

That period ended —as it should have. Now, the decisions taken for Washington, Brussels, London or Berlin mean nothing to our people, nor will it in the future.

We have to take steps based on our deep political history, geographical identity, our tradition of states, our centuries-old social foresight, and build a future. We have to spread this mentality, this march throughout the entire region, take a great initiative through terms and language, and start a localization preparation and operation.

June 24 is the start of a new era for our country. It is the start of great steps and climbs for the state, for governmental or nongovernmental organizations, for politics, the media, intellectual circles and the economy world.

Therefore, the foundations of a deep, exciting transformation ranging from our minds to our institutions, our defense to our political perceptions have to be laid very firmly. A deep-rooted foundation, a new perception that will continue for centuries must be established in all our institutions.

Because the state and reality we are currently in is a new example of the great initiatives, climbs and tradition of great states. The first thing we need to do is accept this mentally and re-set ourselves according to this.

Post-June 24, there will be radical changes and improvements in Turkey’s international relations. Because Turkey will even change the positions of the countries that are known for their belligerence. They have already accepted that this country can no longer be turned back. All the methods they applied to date have failed. Their hand is not as strong as it used to be, their partners on the inside have become weaker, with their credibility diminishing.

Of course relations with the U.S. are going to continue at a more rational level, but the unilateral dependency relation will end here. Of course relations with the EU are going to continue, but Turkey will no longer have the ideal of full membership. Our relations with the East’s rising powers and the West’s traditional partners are going to be reformatted based on the reality of the “Turkey axis.”

As Turkey redefines its relations with these based on the new situation, it must first seek ways for serious improvement in its relations with its close environment and the countries in its region, ease the hostility targeting it, form common areas and produce a confidence-building discourse.

In this sense, relations with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran are determinative. All areas of threat with especially the region’s powerful country, Saudi Arabia, must be eliminated. We must find a way to break, to alleviate the anti-Turkey wave in this country’s politics. The Riyadh administration may come to the fore in preventing the United Arab Emirates’ (Tur) “anti-Turkey sentiment” from spreading through the region. This should at least be tried.

The UAE must be stopped from supporting terror organizations and being involved in coup attempts, wreaking havoc in the region as a “pillar of evil,” including targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and, a friendly atmosphere should be formed to debilitate the threat between Ankara and Riyadh.

Turkey must create a new wave in the whole region and this wave should be strongly felt in both the West and the East. This is what I mean when I say Turkey’s footsteps will resonate everywhere.