İbrahim Karagül: The West is at war with Islam

Yeni Şafak daily and TVNET Editor-In-Chief İbrahim Karagül assessed developments throughout the Middle East, including the latest incidents in Saudi Arabia, in an online discussion shared on social media platforms, on Wednesday.

“What happened in Afghanistan and Iraq is a lie. They are splitting this region. They know the world’s political history will change. Turkey will be divided if Syria is divided. It is our duty to keep it together. The U.S. formed a path in the north. They established a new front using the Gulf. They left the Shi’ite and Sunni debate and now want to start an Arab and non-Arab dispute. The end result of this could be the splitting of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. must be expelled from this region,” said Karagül during a program with Yeni Şafak's Digital Publications Manager Ersin Çelik posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“The West is at war with Islam. That is why they disintegrated the Ottoman Empire in World War I. We as the Muslim world have entered the struggle for existence. The West came to this geography for a showdown. They want to make us live through the 20th century, but we refuse to do so,” he added.

Karagül also evaluated the importance of defense mechanisms such as nuclear weapons.

“The West does not want Turkey to have nuclear technology. This debate is about nuclear independence. A state which has technology that enables it to have nuclear independence is untouchable, and no force can harm it. This is another facet: It is hard to monitor. They do not want Muslim countries to have nuclear technology,” Karagül said.

“Turkey should produce attack not defense missiles. We need to produce intercontinental missiles. It is offensive power, not defense, that is deterring,” he added.

“Incirlik [Air Base] must definitely be closed. Terror organizations are being run from Incirlik. Aerial and intelligence support is being provided from there. The July 15 coup attempt was administered from Incirlik, not Akıncı,” said Karagül.

Incirlik Air base is located in Turkey’s southern Adana province. Turkey allowed U.S. aircraft to be stationed at the base to conduct airstrikes against Daesh in 2015.

The 4th Akıncı Main Jet Base, which was renamed Murted after the attempted coup, is located outside Turkey's capital Ankara and was used as a base by some pro-coup soldiers. Some of the jets which took off from the base that night bombed several places in Ankara, including the parliament building.