EDITORIAL

The Eastern Mediterranean is the Frontline of NATO's Aggression

Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has created a new momentum for the developing world. Over the past 30 years, developing countries have started to take action against the Atlantic aggression in reaction to the devastating consequences of the Atlantic system. Their resistance has finally put an end to the unipolar world and paved the way for a multipolar system. The agenda ahead is to joining forces and establish a fair, egalitarian fair world order. Today, a new wave of national sovereignty has been spreading from Asia to the rest of the world across Africa and Latin America. On the other hand, the USA has not abandoned its claim to be the sole master of the world and insists on imposing the continuation of a hegemonic international system. In this direction, the Atlantic Alliance seeks to prevent developing countries from enacting policies based on national sovereignty and, more importantly, from advancing South-South cooperation at the expense of to the Atlantic system.

This struggle between the Atlantic and the developing world continues on many fronts. The main fronts include the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Yemen Sea, the Istanbul and Dardanelles Straits, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea.

The US military build-up in the Balkans, Greece, and Ukraine and the policy of expanding NATO eastward are targeting not only Russia but the remainder of developing countries. It is seen that the USA is also trying to undermine Europe's relations with Russia and China. In the meantime, it aims to prevent the success of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is paving the way for an equitable and just world through shared development, from Europe to Africa via West Asia.

Among these fronts, the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey serves as a tri-continental bridge, is of key importance. The rationale behind the US piling up its forces in the Eastern Mediterranean is to stop Turkey's turn towards Asia. Turkey's integration with Asia is part of its vital interests in every field, primarily national security. However, it is clear that the success of this integration will cause irreparable damage to US global hegemony. The USA has been stepping up its military threats against Turkey in order to prevent such an outcome. Today, Turkey is seen as an obstacle to NATO's strategic orientation even though it retains its NATO membership.

The Eastern Mediterranean is currently NATO's most critical front of attack. As a result, the threat that the United States poses to Turkey via Cyprus and the Aegean is actually directed toward the developing world as a whole. Therefore, repelling the Atlantic aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean will benefit the national security interests of not only Turkey but also Russia, China, and Iran, among others. Particularly, the establishment of regional unity in the lead of Turkey, Russia, China, and Iran will be a historical turning point on the road to an egalitarian and just international system.

 

FİKRET AKFIRAT

Editor-in-Chief
 

Download
BRIQ Vol.4 Issue:1

Contents

Abstract

The details of the Cyprus issue are not very well known except for experts working on this issue, but it is a vital subject for the Turkish World. The honorable struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people for centuries is not just a struggle for existence. It also includes many global and local struggles. It is not correct to see this struggle only as a Turkish-Greek struggle. This struggle, at the same time, is the struggle for the existence of Turkishness on the island, the heroic struggle of an oppressed people, who are numerically a minority, against the aggressive majority, a struggle for a civilizational conflict, and in a way, it is the question of the West’s domination over the East, which has been going on for centuries in different dimensions. Turkish Cypriots defended their destinies by giving great struggles on the island, gained their freedom as a result of the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which we established in 1983, became the second Turkish state in the Turkish World to gain its independence other than the Republic of Türkiye. Cyprus is of great importance in terms of the security of the Republic of Türkiye, the continental shelf, the Exclusive Economic Zone, the control of the airspace, and the strategic defense depth of Türkiye. The TRNC is not simply a piece of land for Türkiye and the Turkish world. The point that the honorable struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people with their blood and life for more than half a century should reach, is an internationally recognized, sovereign, and independent state. A new era has begun, in which new decisions will be implemented and the equal sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriot People will be at the forefront.
 

Abstract

America is doing the same, both in the South China Sea and in the Eastern Mediterranean.We can see that America’s containment strategy also aims to block China’s Belt and Road project. The fact that the Zangezur corridor will be opened means that Türkiye can use the middle corridor more easily through Central Asia while China can use it more easily through Türkiye, which the USA wants to avoid. As a soldier, I have been expressing for
years that Türkiye should leave the NATO’s military wing, but I think it should stay on the political wing as much as possible. There should be cooperation with Russia. The US’s goal is to create a fault line between Russia and Türkiye and to cut off Türkiye’s connection with Russia over the Black Sea. in a planned process where the Turkish Army stands strong, I think that Türkiye should take initiatives for the recognition of Cyprus independence with the support of China and Russia. There are critical theories and so on in international relations, but today I believe that all these problems can be solved in more realistic ways, namely by force. For this, close regional cooperation is needed. This is exactly what Türkiye should do. In this context, I consider the development of relations with Shanghai cCooperation Organization a very positive move
 

Abstract

The common strategy of all multipolar world countries, including Türkiye, Russia, China, India,and Iran, has an element of joining forces against the Western bloc. And I believe this unionis the one that will stop a nuclear World War III. Türkiye does not obey the orders of the USA, establishes independent policies, and maintains good relations with Russia, all of which theUSA does not like at all. Under these circumstances, the US wants to take the reins of Türkiyeback into its own hands, and for this purpose, it organized a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016. This coup attempt was defeated with the support of Russia as well, but the USA began to besiege Türkiye from every angle. Türkiye has started to take some
measures against this siege passing through Greece and Southern Cyprus. This siege aims to engulf both Türkiye and Russia. This should be clearly understood. These bases are primarily aimed at Türkiye, then towards Russia. The containment of Russia is also achieved by other means, but at this point, Türkiye is a key target in the eyes of the United States.
 

Abstract

The Eastern Mediterranean is one of the epicenters of Middle Eastern conflicts ranging from internal and bilateral to multilateral disputes. Outside powers adhere to diverse outlooks of peace initiatives. The western liberalists highlight “democratic peace”, emphasizing that “democracy deficit” causes conflict. China favors the “developmental peace” proposal and argues that conflicting parties can achieve peace through domestic and regional development. China dispatched peacekeeping forces to Lebanon for humanitarian rescues for the Republic in 2020, offered developmental aid and economic assistance to Lebanon, Syria and Palestine to improve their capacity with key infrastructure and livelihood projects as the centerpiece, and participated in post-war reconstruction in the three war-torn countries as well. The “developmental peace” argument is based on China’s four-decade long Reform and Opening-up experience, a potentially new scenario for the Eastern Mediterranean conflict resolution.
 

Abstract

Among the ten states with coasts on the Karaman Sea (Eastern Mediterranean), Türkiye’s power, which can affect world trade with its unique geography, is from the Turkish Straits, Egypt’s power is from the Suez Canal, and Greece’s power is in the Islands Sea, which the waterways between them come from thousands of islands that can be broadly considered as straits. It is impossible for the ships using the waters of these three states not to perceive these sharp geopolitics. It is another fact that these three states could not sufficiently use this unique power due to the competition between them and even mortgaged it to imperialism. This article aims to understand the geopolitical power losses of these three states, which act with the equation of armament against each other.
 

Abstract

Sino-Syrian relations extend back to 1956, making it one of China’s earliest and most established diplomatic ties with an Arab country. After the Soviet Union turned down Syria’s request for medium-range missile technology in 1980, Beijing declared its willingness to offer Syria the technology. Beijing regards Syria’s intellectual, ideological, cultural and social plurality as a model for the region. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his first official trip to China in 2004; economic cooperation between China and Syria was the primary emphasis of this visit. There were contracts for oil and energy tankers and manufacturing facilities in Syria. This article deals with the development of SinoSyrian relations and the main stages in the history of the bilateral relationship. An analytical-descriptive approach is used to explain the strategic relationship between the two countries. The article relies on relevant primary and secondary sources to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the topic. The study concludes that China aspires to expand and enhance its presence in the eastern Mediterranean due to its strategic geographical importance, the large economic market and the richness of natural resources that China needs. The article notes that Syria is a strategic area for China, which was evident during the Syrian crisis and China’s use of its veto in the Security Council in favor of the Syrian regime. The article proposes that Sino-Syrian relations are expected to develop in the foreseeable future due to the strategic political understanding between the two regimes and Syria’s active presence on the Belt and Road Initiative, which raises its geographical position in the eastern Mediterranean.
 

Abstract

CHEN, X. 2021.
The Belt and Road Initiative as Epochal Regionalisation. London: Routledge