As long as they keep turning their blades on each other. KGS
Taking Sides in Syria, Turkey Shelters Militia Fighting Assad
Once one of Syria’s closest allies, Turkey is hosting an armed opposition group waging an insurgency against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, providing shelter to the commander and dozens of members of the group, the Free Syrian Army, and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military.
The support for the insurgents comes amid a broader Turkish campaign to undermine Mr. Assad’s government. Turkey is expected to impose sanctions soon on Syria, and it has deepened its support for an umbrella political opposition group known as the Syrian National Council, which announced its formation in Istanbul. But its harboring of leaders in the Free Syrian Army, a militia composed of defectors from the Syrian armed forces, may be its most striking challenge so far to Damascus.
Ottoman nationalism is certainly resurfacing for quite a while now. Cross-ethnic muslim solidarity is as much imaginary as intra-muslim solidarity. There’s an awful lot of innate hypocrisy involved in Islam.
First of all, there is the ethnic divide between the big three of the ME: Turks, Arabs and Persians. And of course there is the Sunni-Shia divide. The Turks in general are majority Sunni, and that in itself is enough of a reason for them to go persecuting the Alevi Shia minority in Turkey. In Iran, being Shia dominated, the few Sunnis left there are persecuted. Hamas only accepted the support of the mullah regime, in keeping with the adage ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’, simply because Sunni-dominated countries in the vicinity, like Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Jordan couldn’t possibly have pledged their support for their cause, keeping the historical context in mind. In all probability, should the neo-Ottoman Erdogan enhance his influence in the region, the Palestinians would be eager to ditch the Shi’ites of Iran altogether in favor of the Turks. Although, deep down, they are not friends of ethnic Turks, either. But at least, this time around they’ll be supported by Sunnis in the long run. Until their help would not be required anymore. (same as with Iran) This time, it is clear that a geostrategical alliance between Pali Sunnis and Shi’ites (Syria and Iran) is eroding fast by Turkey butting in.
If Erdogan is the Ottoman nationalist megalomaniac I suspect he is, then it would be clear in my mind that he genuinely attempts to curry favor with all Arab Sunnis in the region in order to make the Shia sphere of influence crumble to bits with the intent to use Palestinians in the same way Iran has done up til now. (further his own goals, rather than those of Arabs) A neo-Ottoman empire would be the final outcome of such scheming. The fact that the involvement of the Turkish intelligence agencies in Syria has come to light now, has everything to do with the Turks stoking all Sunni Arabs against the Shi’ites in general !! Lebanon will probably be next. It is no coincidence that a while ago, Iran decided to cut funding for Hamas while the mullahs were pledging their active support for Assad in order to help him put the Sunni opposition down. After all, Hamas is also an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Which was of no concern to the Iranians nor Hamas, until Erdogan started meddling.
It seems to me that the tables have been turning rapidly on the Shi’ite Axis of Evil, (Iran + Syria + Hezbollah in Lebanon) which exerted the most influence up till now in the region, whereas the Sunni countries stood by the side line, unable to do anything.
It’s quite striking how Erdogan wants to expand his influence in the region. His backing of these despicable PC/MC Pali flotillas against Israel seemed to be nothing more than a pr stunt initially, but it was clear to me early on that he was in fact testing the water to see if he could be able to gain Pali support and wean the Gazans away from Iran. A stepping stone to a wider scheme brewing inside his mind.
Turkish intelligence agencies would’ve had a hand in the internal strife in Syria from the very beginning. They would have probably known very well that the Iranians had no other option than to come to the aid of the Alawite regime as a consequence, because Shi’ites are a minority in the ME, so they have to stick together. The Turks may well replace the Iranians supporting Hamas if everything goes according to the Ottoman game plan: Turkey expands its influence, Iran loses it and Hamas doesn’t have to eat out of the hands of dreaded Shi’ites out of geostrategical neccessity ! The prime goal is to eradicate all Shi’ite influence on the Mediterranean coast.
Simple ME geostrategic policy, keeping Shia – Sunni enmity in mind ! Plus history.