The saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” can only go so far. It’s only a matter of time before the Shia/Sunni divide reignites and intensifies. Both Iran and Turkey seek regional and global dominion. Iran seeks a revived Persian Empire, and Turkey a revived Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, as those two countries keep a watchful eye on each other, Saudi Arabia and Turkey compete for regional hegemony and intensify their own rivalry for the position of leader of the Sunni world.
“Iranian Expert Sadeq Maleki: ‘The Old Ottomanism Was Looking To Expand To The Gates Of Vienna And To The West, [Erdoğan’s] Neo-Ottomanism Has Its View Toward The East,'” MEMRI, December 29, 2020:
aOn December 15, 2020, the Iranian reformist newspaper Shargh published an interview, titled “In Turkey’s Strategy, Iran Is The Most Important Rival,” with Sadeq Maleki, an Iranian expert on Turkish affairs.
In the interview, Maleki stated that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wishes to divide Iran and to annex Azerbaijan to Turkey in order to form the Greater Turkistan. Maleki also stated that Erdoğan is trying to “establish Neo-Ottomanism,” which differentiates itself from Ottomanism in its geopolitical perception. According to Maleki, the old Ottomanism was looking to expand to the gates of Vienna and to the West, whereas Erdoğan’s Neo-Ottomanism has its view toward the East. Maleki further explained that Iran is opposing Turkey’s expansionism eastward and this is why Iran is Turkey’s main rival.
According to Maleki, Turkey cannot revive the Ottoman Empire, “but it has the power to create havoc.” “Perhaps Turkey cannot establish Neo-Ottomanism in the mold of the Ottoman Empire, but it can have a very disruptive role in the Middle East and we have seen [Erdoğan] play this role. Some people do not believe that Turkey can achieve these goals, but we are witnesses to the fact that he has ascertained some of his aims in the area,” Maleki wrote.
It is worth noting that, on December 10, 2020, Erdoğan went to Baku to preside over a military parade organized to celebrate Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. On that occasion, addressing the Victory Parade, Erdoğan recited a poem that Iran regarded as support for the secession of parts of Iran populated by ethnic Azeris. “They separated the Aras River and filled it with rocks and rods. I will not be separated from you. They have separated us forcibly,” the poem reads. Erdoğan’s recitation of the poem angered Tehran and received strong condemnation from the Iranian government and media.[1]
Lately, tension in Iran’s relations with Turkey was given public expression in the Iranian media. The Iranian regime is alarmed by the expansionist ambitions of Erdoğan’s Sunni Islamist government, which come at the expense of Shi’ite Islamist Iran and its resistance axis.[2]
Following is the interview with Sadeq Maleki:[3]
The AKP’s “Unofficial Policy” Is “To Divide Iran And Annex Azerbaijan To Turkey In Order To Form The Greater Turkistan”
Zeynab Esmaeli Seiveri (ZES): “This week, Iran’s anxiety reached new heights, as reflected in social and Iranian media, due to the separatist behavior [of Erdoğan]. The cause [of this heightened anxiety] was the recitation in Baku by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, about the forever Iranian river Aras. This matter is similar to opening a [pandora’s] box that contains the various ethnic and racial tensions [of the region]. While there are many great challenges in the conflict-ridden area of the Middle East, there continues to be an international conflict with the United States. All these issues can increase anxiety. In an interview with Sadeq Maleki, a senior political analyst who has devoted many years analyzing Turkish issues, we started with Erdoğan’s motivation and proceeded to the many anxiety-producing challenges for Iran. You can read the interview below.
“Due to the recitation by Erdoğan in Baku, there were many different reactions in Iran. Despite this latest anxiety-producing statement, we should spend some time analyzing what path [Erdoğan] took to arrive at this juncture in his relationship with Iran where his recitation of one poem worries Iran about its territorial integrity, even though experts in the last few years were more concerned with the softer vulnerability of Iran in its relations with Turkey.”
Sadeq Maleki (SM): “The policy toward the East and strengthening of Pan-Turkism, has never been the sole policy of Erdoğan or his Justice and Development Party (AKP). All Turkish political parties, except for the Kurdish parties, are founded on Turkish nationalism and have some relations to Pan-Turkism and are somewhat supportive of this policy. These political parties include current and defunct parties, such as Republican People’s Party, Nationalist Movement Party, even the late [former Turkish prime minister Bülent] Ecevit’s People’s Democratic Party and the late [former Turkish prime minister Necmettin] Erbakan’s Welfare Party.
“The current Pan-Turkism view, with the exception of the approach to the Kurds, has shown the unofficial coalition of the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party. In the past, these parties had, and today’s AKP has, maybe not in their official but in their unofficial policy, wish to divide Iran and to annex Azerbaijan to Turkey in order to form the Greater Turkistan. At the start of the Twentieth Century, the Young Turks had also moved in this direction; but were mightily defeated.
“So why are Erdoğan’s inner wishes more evident today? The reason is that today’s Erdoğan is very different from yesterday’s Erdoğan. Yesterday’s Erdoğan was weak and had no control over the armed forces or the judiciary and he had a relatively weak economy. Today, with the changes in the parliamentary system relating to the power of the president, Erdoğan has practically gained absolute power over Turkey. Even though today Turkey is in an economic crisis and the Turkish Lira has lost its value, the economy is stronger and larger than what it was in the beginning of 2000s. The economic, military, and political powers have allowed Erdoğan to undertake these initiatives and to pursue Turkey’s interests not just on one front but on many fronts.
“At this time, Erdoğan is active in a wide geographic region stretching from Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, Syria and Iraq and even in a dispute with Greece. At times he challenges Europe and the United States. This Erdoğan follows a policy of creating a Neo-Ottomanism. But this Neo-Ottomanism is different from the former Ottomanism. The old Ottomanism was looking to expand to the gates of Vienna and to the West. This Neo-Ottomanism has its view toward the East. What country in the East can stand up to or oppose Turkey? That country is Iran; therefore in any Turkish strategy, Iran has always been Turkey’s main rival. Sometimes, this rivalry resulted in positive interaction bringing positive results; other times, the interaction was negative resulting in animosity. We can say that the proxy war in Syria was the cause for changing rivalry to enmity….
Infidel says
This is a fun story. I’m particularly interested in how well the Azeris take the Turks trying to convert them to sunni islam, as they are bound to do if such a hypothetical ever plays out. I also reject the notion that Turkey can’t re-create the Ottoman empire. Technically, maybe, but look at the influence they currently have.
First of all, they’ve successfully poached every sunni client of Iran’s – muslim brotherhood, Palestinians, Qatar, Yemen, Somalia, Boko Haram. Then they’re claiming the leadership of islam, and unlike Iran, since they are sunni and the Ottoman empire was once the caliphate, they have a better chance and a precedence to claim that on.
Then they are rallying all the non-Arabs to their side, since Saudi Arabia and its Gulf vassals are short on cash and no longer capable of bankrolling islamic entities the way they used to, so their only natural allies are the Arab world, and even there, there are gaps such as Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen and Somalia. In this process, Erdogan has already won over Malaysia and Pakistan. Winning over Pakistan was a particularly impressive feat: didn’t need to bribe them or anything. All Turkey did was support Pakistan against India on Kashmir, and Pakistan, whose relationship w/ Arab countries has been souring, happily jumped on Turkey’s bandwagon. And since they’re the world’s #2 muslim country (no Virginia, it’s not India), it’s a big coup for Erdogan to have won them over. Now if only they can win over Indonesia and Bangladesh. There are only something like 400 million Arabs out of the world’s 1,800 million muslims, while Turkey already has 280 million b/w themselves and Pakistan alone. A lot higher w/ the other countries I mentioned.
Finally, Erdogan is also playing on Turkic ethnic pride, and now leads a group of 5 countries – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (Turkmenistan so far has declined to join, claiming neutrality) in an organization called the Turkic Council. That makes him a challenger to Moscow in its ‘near-abroad’, so that Putin can’t do in Kazakhstan what he’s done w/ impunity in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus: doesn’t wanna lose the -stans to Turkey. Already, by supporting Azerbaijan so aggressively against Armenia, he’s established his street cred amongst the Turkic countries, so they too are increasingly w/ him, particularly as Soviet era leaders die out or retire, such as Karimov and Nazarbayev. (Yeah, yeah, the Uyghurs are another story!)
So, in summary, Ankara has on its side much of Central Asia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Qatar and Kuwait (although Jared Kushner was trying to resolve the Saudi-Qatar face-off, probably to erode Turkey’s support and funding), Yemen, Somalia, ‘Palestine’ and jihadist groups in Syria, Libya, Nigeria and elsewhere. A virtual empire stretching from Malaysia to Tripoli, and Pakistan to Kazakhstan.
The Ottoman sultans/caliphs would have been impressed!
Infidel says
Another thing I forgot to mention: Azeri history is more tied to Iranian history than Turkish: their first rise to power was via the Safavids, who converted first them and then the rest of Iran from sunni to the Twelver sect of shi’a islam. Seeing the regime at Baku pretend that that didn’t exist and that Azerbaijan is a cultural part of Turkey is pretty funny to watch
john smith says
+1
gravenimage says
Thanks, Infidel.
Quazgaa says
Another day in the islamic zoo..
GreekEmpress says
Madmen running both Iran and Turkey. Will be really interesting to see how this plays out.
gravenimage says
Iranian paper: ‘Neo-Ottoman’ Turkey hopes to ‘divide Iran and annex Azerbaijan to form the Greater Turkistan’
……………..
But Turkey is still happey to support the Azerbaijanis slaughtering Christian Armenians.
Westman says
This could be beneficial for Israel if Iran must spend its efforts and treasure to resist Turkish expansion.
With Biden as US President it was looking like Israel would be forced to act alone to stop Iran’s nuclear bomb development. Now the prospect of a Turkey-Iran interference, perhaps leading to war between them, could save Israel the expense. Note the great “unity” of Islam.
Giacomo Latta says
”This Neo-Ottomanism has its view toward the East. ”
I would say Erdogan’s vision is pretty much 360 degrees.
gravenimage says
True, Giacomo–he is also threatening Israel and Europe–especially Greece.
Crusades Were Right says
Erdogan’s people are the descendants of a horde of savages, cut-throats and bandits from Central Asia who descended on the civilized world in the Middle Ages.
I, for one, would have no objection if he got the idea into his head that he should lead the whole lot of them back whence they came.
Maybe somebody can convince him there’s a small, vulnerable Christian nation there that has no steadfast allies?
Walter Sieruk says
Those Muslim men are not going to be successful in their Islamic schemes . This ,in fact, will all come back down on them in the end
For it is written in the Bible “Though hand join in hand .the wicked shall not go unpunished.” Proverbs 11:21. [K.J.V.]
OLD GUY says
Islam is all about DOMINATION, so no big surprise that eventually Iran and Turkey will lock horns. Both leaders want to rule the Middle East and the rest of the world. My money in a one on one fight is on Erdogan. If Iran and Turkey go at it Iran has the edge if the U.S.A. stays out of it. It would be an interesting battle with the rest of the world coming out ahead.
Lt Mason says
Love this new insight : Neo-Ottoman. It is real.