Wherever we turn our attention it is almost inevitable that at some point we come face to face with some form of conflict in the Middle East. Even Turkey, which had adopted the policy of zero problems with its neighbors, ultimately has become entangled in disagreements with many of the countries nearby. Despite the fact that Turkey made agreements with some of them, the changing of the balances in Syria makes the ties with other countries not easy and virtually hang by a thread. To provide security and well being for the country, Turkey has completed the Euphrates Shield operation, which has been continuing for the last seven months with success. Up until now, the most prominent achievement has been retrieving the city of Al-Bab from ISIS.
The most effective solution in this area of conflict lies in the amicable relations between the countries. Russia, Turkey and Iran have been wise enough to realize this fact and formed an alliance to stop the bloodshed in Syria. Through this alliance, the first solid steps were taken concerning peace in the region. In the Moscow summit these three states realized that the solution in Syria could not be achieved through military means but rather by diplomacy and alliance. This outlook is not valid for only Syria but for all the ongoing wars since conflicts rise as a result of disputes between parties. Even though everyone knows that the disputes cannot be resolved militarily, some still resort to arms. Either by provocations of the West or by its direct involvement, Muslims are killing other Muslims with the pretense of war.
This ongoing violence reminds us of Samuel Huntington who is known for his theses "Clash of Civilizations" and "Age of Muslim Wars." The main aim of his arguments was to prevent the cooperation and unity among Islamic countries. According to Huntington, the wars in 21st century were the inescapable outcome of the dialectics of history and therefore, if war was a scientific inevitability, then nations should not try to prevent them, but rather benefit from them as much as possible. This view has lead to the death of millions of innocent people.
For example, the situation in Iraq is in at least the same as Syria, if not worse. It has been a battle zone since the US invasion in 2003 with the false presumption that Iraq had supplies of WMD and was an imminent global threat, an accusation later proven to be fabricated. This fake information was asserted by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, based on so-called intelligence provided by the MI6, and was brought to light by the Chilcot Report recently issued by the official committee of inquiry assigned by the British Parliament. Only then did Tony Blair apologize for the wrong intelligence, after the release of this report. Yet, the damage was done and it was once more another Muslim population who suffered extensively. The ISIS threat, which has also extended over Iraq has been causing terror in the territory for a long time and to fight against this terrorist organization, the Iraqi Army initiated Mosul operation, which ended recently.
Another country in turmoil is Yemen, which turned out to be a forgotten state. The fact that the violence in Yemen does not hit the headlines often does not change what is going on there. The war in which seven ceasefire deals have failed, has left 10,000 people martyred and 40,000 injured. The latest UNICEF report informs that more than 400,000 children were at risk of starvation in Yemen with nearly 2.2 million in need of urgent care. War has changed everything in Yemen as one resident named Taha Raed states, "War was a lesson for us all that nothing remains the same . . . and no one knows when he is going to die."
All these conflicts brought with it the ultimate disastrous global issue of all time: the refugee crisis. While neighboring countries like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan embraced the refugees fleeing the warzones with open arms, some European countries blocked their entrances by erecting walls or barbed wire fences. Today, in 65 countries, people are separated by high walls, which are as scary as the ones in John Carpenter's movie, "Escape from New York." However, there is an important difference between the imaginary walls of Carpenter's action movie and the actual walls of 2017: The people of the 21st century often confine innocent people rather than criminals behind walls.
The same Europe that denies refugees fleeing the havoc of the civil war in Syria should remember that not that long ago, the Europeans themselves were refugees, fleeing the destruction of WW2. This big war generated the worst humanitarian disaster in European history and it seems now that this sorrowful fact has been forgotten by more than a few. For example, rather than supplying aid to the refugees, the Hungary's government continued its inhuman treatment of the refugees by deploying border hunters and refugee detention containers.
The underlying reason of such negative outcomes which we have been describing here with only a few examples, is because of the fragmentation in the Islamic world. However, this negativity does not have to continue because this is the age of cooperation and we have witnessed how unity can resolve the most seemingly insolvable situations. Additionally, this unity will be different than the existing ones and not be based on only economics, military or national interests. The countries will meet in the least common denominator when taking a decision and one will prefer what the other party needs even if it conflicts with its own interest. Then the one making the sacrifice will soon realize the other will do the same treatment. In fact, peace is something that can be easily attained when the right kind of policy is adopted. The most important part is to have good will and not look after national interests because self-interest of two parties can never get along and one will swallow the other, eventually causing a fight. Therefore, the leaders should treat each other with respect, compassion, and sacrifice letting aside self-interest or egotism.
Adnan Oktar's piece in Kashmir Reader & Riyadh Vision:
http://www.riyadhvision.com.sa/2017/05/06/no-more-cries-in-the-islamic-world/
