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Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
December 8, 2012 Saturday
Iran is everywhere
by ABDÜLHAMIT BILICI
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- "In recent years, we, as Turkey, have come across
Iran wherever we turn." This remark does not belong to a conspiracy
theorist who utters unbelievable arguments or a partial analyst who
does not care about reality.
It was said by an official who possesses information on intelligence
but who also has information on both the deep and semi-deep state.
It may sound surprising to some of us, but Iran's approach to every
matter, including the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), the Syrian crisis and relations with Lebanon and Iraq, is
diametrically opposite to Turkey's. Given the fact that Iran and
Turkey have historically been in a never-ending competition in the
region, a race that may even evolve into hostility at times, how can
we regard the current status in bilateral relations as surprising? It
shouldn't be startling, at least to those who look at the process from
a historical perspective and who don't disregard geopolitical laws. If
there is a fierce competition that even amounts to hostility at times
between Turkey and Iran, is the solution a conflict or war? Absolutely
not.
What must be done is to sweep aside the romanticism that refuses to
take heed of realities and the historical perspective and study Iran
in-depth with its domestic balance, the policies it pursues in the
Middle East and around the world and as regards Turkey and develop a
new approach.
Today's Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Kenes's books, which are the
products of his doctoral work on the foreign policy of the Iranian
revolution, fill the deep void in this regard. Kenes's previously
published book tried to ascertain whether Iran should be perceived as
"a threat or an opportunity." Some of his striking arguments were that
Iran would attack the Ottoman Empire whenever it was attacked by
European powers, that Iran -- which voices its Islamic concerns over
Palestine -- entertains friendly ties with Armenia despite the
Armenian occupation of the Azerbaijani territories and that that Iran
lends support to the Baath regime-orchestrated massacre in Syria. He
also explains how in 1982 Iran failed to react to the tragedy in Hama
and that while it pretends to pursue Islamic policies, Iran has a
pragmatic/nationalist policy of holding secret negotiations with
Israel and the US, and that the taqiyya (deception) principle has a
deep-root sectarian legitimacy in the system.
Kenes's new book from the same series, "Iran ve Terör" (Iran and
Terror), puts the spotlight on this country's involvement in
terrorism, a hot topic on the world's agenda.
Drawing attention to the fact that the policy Iran pursued in the
post-revolution era has played a major role in contributing to the
international community's tendency to link Islam with violence and
terrorism long before al-Qaeda's heinous terrorist attacks, Kenes
maintains that Tehran not only lent support to all kinds of subversive
activities against the regimes of neighboring countries including
Turkey, but also aided in all possible ways local and global terrorist
organizations.
He notes that terrorism is instrumental in Iran's official policies
and explains that Iran would intentionally leave its traces in
assassinations it carried out against regime dissidents as a calling
card, but destroyed all the evidence in other attacks so that they
could not be traced back to Iran.
There is an official Iran as represented by spiritual leaders and
Revolutionary Guards, however, the country is extremely diverse, most
of which is not visible to the international community. It might have
been useful to discuss Iran's official position in terms of the
differences between Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or
between conservatives and the supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who
took to the streets for the Green Revolution. There are many Iranians
who disapprove of the regime's acts and who envy modernizing and
liberalizing Turkey and who have kinship ties with Turkey and we
should avoid the risk of pushing the conflict to an ontological level.
Given the fact that Iran will occupy greater room in both the world
and Turkey's agenda as regards regional developments in the coming
days, Kenes's book is a noteworthy pioneering source.
December 8, 2012 Saturday
Iran is everywhere
by ABDÜLHAMIT BILICI
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- "In recent years, we, as Turkey, have come across
Iran wherever we turn." This remark does not belong to a conspiracy
theorist who utters unbelievable arguments or a partial analyst who
does not care about reality.
It was said by an official who possesses information on intelligence
but who also has information on both the deep and semi-deep state.
It may sound surprising to some of us, but Iran's approach to every
matter, including the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), the Syrian crisis and relations with Lebanon and Iraq, is
diametrically opposite to Turkey's. Given the fact that Iran and
Turkey have historically been in a never-ending competition in the
region, a race that may even evolve into hostility at times, how can
we regard the current status in bilateral relations as surprising? It
shouldn't be startling, at least to those who look at the process from
a historical perspective and who don't disregard geopolitical laws. If
there is a fierce competition that even amounts to hostility at times
between Turkey and Iran, is the solution a conflict or war? Absolutely
not.
What must be done is to sweep aside the romanticism that refuses to
take heed of realities and the historical perspective and study Iran
in-depth with its domestic balance, the policies it pursues in the
Middle East and around the world and as regards Turkey and develop a
new approach.
Today's Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Kenes's books, which are the
products of his doctoral work on the foreign policy of the Iranian
revolution, fill the deep void in this regard. Kenes's previously
published book tried to ascertain whether Iran should be perceived as
"a threat or an opportunity." Some of his striking arguments were that
Iran would attack the Ottoman Empire whenever it was attacked by
European powers, that Iran -- which voices its Islamic concerns over
Palestine -- entertains friendly ties with Armenia despite the
Armenian occupation of the Azerbaijani territories and that that Iran
lends support to the Baath regime-orchestrated massacre in Syria. He
also explains how in 1982 Iran failed to react to the tragedy in Hama
and that while it pretends to pursue Islamic policies, Iran has a
pragmatic/nationalist policy of holding secret negotiations with
Israel and the US, and that the taqiyya (deception) principle has a
deep-root sectarian legitimacy in the system.
Kenes's new book from the same series, "Iran ve Terör" (Iran and
Terror), puts the spotlight on this country's involvement in
terrorism, a hot topic on the world's agenda.
Drawing attention to the fact that the policy Iran pursued in the
post-revolution era has played a major role in contributing to the
international community's tendency to link Islam with violence and
terrorism long before al-Qaeda's heinous terrorist attacks, Kenes
maintains that Tehran not only lent support to all kinds of subversive
activities against the regimes of neighboring countries including
Turkey, but also aided in all possible ways local and global terrorist
organizations.
He notes that terrorism is instrumental in Iran's official policies
and explains that Iran would intentionally leave its traces in
assassinations it carried out against regime dissidents as a calling
card, but destroyed all the evidence in other attacks so that they
could not be traced back to Iran.
There is an official Iran as represented by spiritual leaders and
Revolutionary Guards, however, the country is extremely diverse, most
of which is not visible to the international community. It might have
been useful to discuss Iran's official position in terms of the
differences between Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or
between conservatives and the supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who
took to the streets for the Green Revolution. There are many Iranians
who disapprove of the regime's acts and who envy modernizing and
liberalizing Turkey and who have kinship ties with Turkey and we
should avoid the risk of pushing the conflict to an ontological level.
Given the fact that Iran will occupy greater room in both the world
and Turkey's agenda as regards regional developments in the coming
days, Kenes's book is a noteworthy pioneering source.