Ankara’s close relation with Washington has been maintained ever
since modern Turkey was established, however the recent US sanctions against
Turkey and the “free fall” of Turkish currency, or Lira, might end Turkey’s
willingness to continue an alliance with the US.
The recent tension between US and Turkey, on the one hand, was
provoked by Turkey’s arrest of an American pastor Andrew Brunson, while on the
other hand, could be perceived as the result of Turkey’s national identity
transformation, that is, from a “Western state” into an “Eastern state” led by
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP)
under the “neo-Ottomanism”.
US Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson (C),
is seen inside a car escorted by Turkish plainclothes police officers as he
arrives at his house in Izmir, Turkey, July 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
The past two decades also witnessed the transformation of Turkey’s
national identity. Modern Turkey was established after the First World War when
the Ottoman Empire, which upheld the “pan-Islamism” principle to portray itself
as the “protector of Muslims”, collapsed.
On the one hand, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by UK, France and
other European powers, while on the other hand the Ottoman Empire’s demise
could be attributed to its internal divisions, especially the division between
Turks and Arabs.
In the late 19th century, Ottoman Empire lost most of its European
territories while the Christian groups inside Anatolia and Thrace were
influenced by different national sentiments from Russia, Austria-Hungary
Empire, France and other Western powers.
Meanwhile, some Islamic thinkers, such as Jamal Din Afghani and
Muhammad Abdul, maintained that only the “Islamic belief” could unite all the
ethnic groups under the same banner to safeguard the “caliphate”, which was the
Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul, against the invasion and humiliation of Western
powers. It is against this backdrop that Ottoman Sultan decided to strengthen
the Ottoman Empire national power through “pan-Islamism”.
However, in the First World War, although the “Caliphate”, or the
Ottoman Sultan, called all the Muslims to resist UK, France, and Russia under
the banner of “Jihad”, or the “Holy war”, the division inside Muslims became
more salient. In 1917 the Arab Revolt led by Emir of Mecca in Arab Peninsular,
Hussein Ibn Ali, seriously blew Ottoman’s illusion of Pan-Islamism.
People arrive to attend a ceremony
marking the 79th anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's death, founder of
modern Turkey, at the mausoleum for Ataturk called Anitkabir, in Ankara,
Turkey, November 10, 2017. /VCG Photo
Hussein Ibn Ali, supported by the UK, led his Arab forces to occupy
a large territory in the Southern part of the Ottoman Empire, while many
important cities and areas such as Mecca and Medina (the Islamic Holy Cities),
Damascus, Bagdad, Mosul, Homs, Jerusalem were occupied by either Arab militants
or British Expeditionary Force.
After the First World War, with the failure of Pan-Islamism, the
Ottoman Empire left only territories in the Anatolia area. It was urgent for
the people in those areas to redefine “who they were”. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,
or “Nation-Father Kemel”, redefined the modern Turkish national identity
labeled by “Scientific, West and Developed” nature, rather than “Backward,
East, un-Developed” society.
After the 1920s, Turkey perceived itself as a part of “West world”,
rather than an East state. Islam was separated from politics and constrained
inside mosques, while “Caliphate” was ousted and the newly established modern
political system was erected in Turkey.
After the Second World War, Turkey chose to join NATO to resist the
threat from its Northern neighbor, the Soviet Union. During the past six
decades, Turkey had been ceaselessly trying to become a European state through
joining the European Community, or today’s European Union. Turkey and the US,
therefore, kept their close relation while Turkey became submissive for the US
and other European states.
After 2002, Turkey’s national identity has been influenced by
“Neo-Ottomanism” upheld by AKP government. The “Neo-Ottomanism” could be
summarized as “Pan-Islamism” plus “Pan-Turkism”, the former drives Turkey to
get involved into different Middle East issues, while the latter promotes
Ankara’s willingness to offer assistance to different Turk ethnic groups all
across the world.
A customer changes dollars into
Turkish lira at a foreign currency exchange store in Istanbul, Turkey, August
16, 2018. /VCG Photo
It is against this backdrop that Turkey, after 2011 when Arab
Turbulence swept the Middle East, decided to get involved in the Syrian civil
war, Saudi-Qatar crisis, Libya civil war and other regional issues.
Neo-Ottomanism awakens Turkey’s new national identity, and Ankara is
not willing to continue its “submissive” role with its Western partners. From
Ankara’s decision of the suspension of “EU-membership” negotiations to its
escalating tension with the US, Ankara is becoming more and more independent.
It should be noted that although Turkey’s “Eastward” policy means
uniting with Russia, it is wrong to imagine that Turkey will become
“submissive” to Russia as it once was to the West. An increasingly confident Turkey
is rising in the intricate geopolitical competition.
Executive editor/Liang Chenglu
Editor/Meng Han
Author: Wang Jin is an Adjunct Fellow at the Charhar Institute in
Beijing and Research Fellow at Northwest University.
Source: CGTN, 2018-08-17
Original Link: https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514e3451544e79457a6333566d54/share_p.html