In a recent article titled "The Coming Regional War," in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Egyptian journalist and author Khaled Al-Berry wrote that the Arab countries are approaching the moment at which they will have to wage a war with Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he called "more dangerous than Hitler." Al-Bari wrote that Erdogan and his supporters in the Arab world (i.e., the Muslim Brotherhood) have been spreading jihadi propaganda in Arab countries and acting to weaken them, in preparation for the moment in which the "Turkish Hitler" will launch a war against them to recapture territory and revive the Ottoman Empire.
In this context, Al-Berry accused Europe of failing to realize that Erdogan is like Hitler and thus repeating the mistake it made with Hitler, namely delaying its response and trying to appease him. He urged the Arab countries not to do the same, but rather to prepare for war and not wait for others to come to their rescue. He added that the first step in this war must be denouncing and defeating the supporters of Erdogan within their own territories, and internalizing the danger posed by the extremist religious ideologies they are spreading.
The following are excerpts from his article: [1]
Khaled Al-Berry (source: m.almogaz.com)
"World War I saw the defeat of three imperialist forces: the Ottomans, the Italians and the Germans. Two of these forces [Germany and Italy] could not tolerate the bitterness of this defeat and sought to regain what they considered 'rightfully' [theirs]. To that end, they started [another] imperialist war when the memory of World War I and its tragedies was still fresh.
"As for the third imperialist force, the Ottoman one, it concealed [its] bitterness due to its weakness, for it had been the 'the sick man of Europe' even before World War I, having been defeated [in several wars] and receiving a death blow. Hence, it was unable to recover and demand the restoration of its [former] colonies.
"[Modern] Turkey fared better, for [Mustafa] Kemal Atatürk came to power, read the picture, understood that the era of colonialist empires was over and that the future belonged to nation-states, and therefor founded the modern Turkish [state]. [Conversely,] Hitler and Mussolini brought further destruction upon their countries and suffered a defeat worse than the first one.
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"[But] the supporters of the colonialist Ottoman empire [i.e., the Muslim Brotherhood] did not disappear. They were removed from their center-stage position, but they did not vanish. The Turkish leadership joined NATO along with its [former] defeaters, whereas [the supporters of the Ottoman empire] used the remnants of their defeated empire in their former colonies, waiting for their moment to play Hitler.
"When we wanted to strengthen our economy [by developing] tourism, the Ottoman remnants in our [countries] attacked the tourists. When we wanted to strengthen our strategic presence through military alliances, they waved slogans of al-wala wal-bara [the Islamic principle of loyalty to Muslims and renouncement of non-Muslims]. When we wanted to revive our economy and diversify it they turned [our] society into one that hates foreigners and keeps them at arm's length. [They do] all this in our countries, but when it comes to Turkey, their hearts are filled with the sweet honey [of affection].
"The mission of the Ottoman remnants in our countries was to divest us of means of power and reserve them exclusively for Turkey, in preparation for that Hitler-Mussolini-moment, when it comes. Then, the Ottoman ranks would produce a Turkish Hitler who would complain about the 'Sykes-Picot' [agreement] -- just as Hitler complained about the Treaty of Versailles -- and demand to restore the colonies, as though they are rightfully his. At that moment, [the Turkish Hitler] will not care about the world’s [response]. In fact, he will bet on [the world’s] feebleness, and quickly begin to expand in his immediate area…
"This is not surprising for us, we who shook off the Ottoman imperialism but will never be rid of its propaganda in our countries. We have heard [this propaganda] repeatedly in the speeches of the Ottoman remnants, under the slogan of 'renewing the [Islamic] caliphate'… We have seen local forces that support [the Ottoman Empire] grow around us for generations… We have seen them turn 'national treason' into a [legitimate] opinion. Their helpers in the Ottomans’ rights organizations deny us even the natural right to confront our enemy, a right that the West enjoyed when it fought Hitler and pursued collaborators with [Hitler], accusing them of treason. That is how we knew for sure that the Ottomans were coming to fight us.
"The surprising thing is that Europe is repeating [its mistake of] delaying its response to Hitler and trying to appease him, although it swore in the past that it had learned a lesson. They have been lulled into the belief that Erdogan isn't Hitler, when [in fact] he is [even] more dangerous [than Hitler]. Because the Nazi party emerged while the memory of World War I was still present, and at a time when imperialist ambitions were not considered reprehensible, for [Germany's] rivals had colonies as well. But Erdogan wants to revive the imperialist tradition [today,] after it has passed from the world, while supporting his expansionist ambitions with religious jihadi propaganda and relying on jihadists he is transporting from Syria to Libya… Hitler’s wars killed millions of young European soldiers, but they were wars between regular [national armies], and when they ended warfare was curbed. But Erdogan’s wars will produce jihadists whom nobody will be able to restrain. Europe used to fear a wave of immigrants seeking a livelihood and fleeing from war. Today, Libya is preparing, right on the shores of the Mediterranean, new waves of immigrants [heading for Europe]: ones who live off war and seek it out.
"But forget about Europe. Whether it awakens or not, no one will handle our affairs better than we will. We must prepare, on the material, spiritual and media levels, for the not-unlikely possibility that our great war, which has been postponed, and our moment [of confronting] Hitler, are closer than we thought. We must not repeat the mistake of Eastern Europe and wait for others to come to our aid…
"Erdogan has two considerable advantages that are interconnected. One is the [positive] image of Turkey that has formed in the [West's] consciousness, and the other is that he [Erdogan] has local supporters [among us]. The image of Turkey in all European countries is that it is [just] like Europe: no one harasses tourists there, it is an open country, and there is no hint of religious extremism or fanaticism. Conversely, in our [Arab countries], the first mission of [Erdogan's] local supporters has been to foster the opposite image of us in the consciousness [of the West]... Politically, all this translates into [a reality in which] the world accepts one side [i.e., Turkey] and rejects the other [i.e., the Arab world].
"When the conflict came, it was the local pro[-Erdogan] elements who openly stood with Turkey. Our asceticism and the hardship of our lives, the hijab and the calls to prayer via loudspeaker, and the 'war on shows of licentiousness' – none of these were sufficient to exonerate us [in the eyes of Erdogan's supporters] when they chose [to support] the country which they serve [i.e., Turkey]! On the contrary – they leverage this [religious conservatism] in order to lure more young people with 'Turkey's beauty' and 'Turkey's openness.'
"We must understand that the defeat of the local pro-[Erdogan] elements is the first step in our war. Likewise, we must understand the danger of extremist religious thought, even if it is not accompanied by weapons. This thought aims to destroy the [notion of nation-]states in the consciousness of the citizens, and after that in the consciousness of the world, preparatory to [Turkey's] swallowing them up. Its aim is to turn our countries into repulsive countries whose residents do not love them and denigrate them, in order to make it easier for the greedy ones to swallow them up.
"On the social level, we must condemn the ideas of the ‘fifth column’ and its symbols every chance we get, even by responding on social media, and must clarify to them that we understand what they are doing and know who ... [is behind them].
"Life cannot teach us a clearer lesson than what we have [already] learned – and if we do not internalize it, we have only ourselves to blame."
[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), June 29, 2020.
