Celebrating Turkey-Libya Agreement, Editor Of AKP Mouthpiece Pens Historical Blueprint For Return Of Ottoman Empire Through Territorial Expansion: 'Barbaros Is Back In The Mediterranean After 473 Years – From Now On, We Are Everywhere From North Africa To The East Mediterranean'

In Turkey's Yeni Şafak daily, which is a mouthpiece of Turkey's ruling AKP, in a December 2, 2019 column,[1] titled "Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha Returns After 473 Years... The Real Ruler Of The Mediterranean Is Back, Turkey-Libya Deal Changed The Nautical Map, Sevres Plan [Which Divided The Ottoman Empire In 1920] Blew Up In Their Face... Turkey's Surface Area Is Much Greater Than We Know," the paper's editor-in-chief İbrahim Karagül wrote: "The deal between Turkey and Libya not only ruined all plans over the Mediterranean but it also showed the world that Turkey has a Mediterranean map." Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha (1478-1546) was a pirate who later became an Ottoman naval commander who secured Ottoman control of the Mediterranean Sea from the Battle of Preveza in 1538 to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

On November 27, 2019, the government of Turkey signed an agreement with Libya's Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which is headed by Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj and is pro-Islamist. Turkish journalist Mehmet Kancı, also writing in Yeni Şafak, explained the significance of the agreement: "Turkey's Marmaris-Fethiye-Kaş shoreline and Libya's Derna-Tobruk and Bardia shorelines were made neighbors. The western-most line that connects this line passes within a few nautical miles of Crete. This means that Turkey will have the right to confront developments that threaten its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean beginning from the waters near Crete. At the same time this is the line drawn for the drilling and research ships that are trying to come near Cyprus and that ignore the rights of Cypriot Turks and Turkey to the hydrocarbon beds in the Eastern Mediterranean." [2] Tension over natural gas drilling in the waters around Cyprus has been building over the past several years.[3]

The November 27 agreement between Turkey and Libya expands Turkey's influence in the Mediterranean Sea (source: Yenisafak.com).

"The Seljuks Are Back; The Ottomans Are Back... The Claims Of Past Centuries Are Back"

Referring to Turkey's land area, which is now "783,562 square kilometers only," Karagül calls it "a mindset that restricts our perception of Turkey and its map, associating it with land alone. Yet when we include our seas, territorial waters, continental shelf as well, Turkey's surface area grows to an extraordinary scale. This leads to radical changes when we look at the map... This massive country grows greater in our eyes... If we take into account Turkey's ethnic area, we see a spectacular power from Europe to Asia, the Middle East to the depths of Africa."

Karagül further declared: "We are rediscovering the 'memory' that allows us to see the region, political history, our nation's political codes, our history-maker and region-builder role, our perception of Turkey, our perception of the Ottomans and Seljuks, and to see all these in a single picture... This means great changes not only for Turkey but the entire region. It means tremors, earthquakes are on the way. It means the entire established order will crumble... The Seljuks are back; the Ottomans are back; the showdowns from World War I are back; the Anatolia defense is back; the claims of past centuries are back; in brief, everything that belongs to us is back. We have seen that they are all ours, they belong to us."

"They Tried To Bury Us Too In The Mediterranean..."

Mentioning "enemies," Karagül names them as "the U.S., Israel, France, Egypt, and Greece's, the Western world's, its regional partners," as well as "Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)." He says that "they were encircling Turkey and making plans to corner it in Anatolia and tear it to pieces. They were dividing the Mediterranean, completely eliminating Turkey from this sea – which was once a Turkish Lake – and making it impossible for us to breathe." He writes that "all the countries that stood against the Ottomans in World War I were now on the anti-Turkey front in the Mediterranean" and that "those that shared the Mediterranean among themselves were dividing Libya into two... and finding puppets for themselves in every part of the Mediterranean."

"A 'Revolution In Defense Industries' From National Airplane Carrier To New Armadas – We Are In Every Part Of Mediterranean"

Karagül refers to the recent development of Turkish military power as follows: "We expanded our defenses with our drilling ships, battle ships, missile systems towards the West as well. We were also seeking natural gas. We were building our defense shield in the Mediterranean. We were implementing game-changer drills...

"We were strengthening the Turkish fleet to the utmost, building new battle ships along with submarines and airplane carriers using national capabilities. We were making extraordinary investments in the war industry in the fields of sonar systems, electronic software, among others, and building a defense industries revolution. Our unmanned air vehicles, aircraft, battle ships were now everywhere in the Mediterranean."

"Turkey-Libya Deal Changed [The] Mediterranean Map: Lesson Taught To Those Imposing Sevres [Agreement Of 1920 In Which The European Powers Divided Up The Ottoman Empire]"

Regarding the Turkey-Libya deal reached on November 27, Karagül writes: "The deal between Turkey and Libya not only ruined all plans over the Mediterranean but it also showed the world that Turkey has a Mediterranean map. We were going to show our own map to those who came with their own. If they had map plans, so did we, and we would respond in the same manner. We did this in northern Syria. We are going to continue to do it. We did it in the Mediterranean. There is still a great deal more that we will be doing. Just as their natural gas plans in the East Mediterranean went down the drain with the Libya deal, the Greece administration balance has also been ruined. Turkey and Libya directly became bordering countries. We build a shield right in the middle of the Mediterranean. One of Turkey's biggest geopolitical breakthroughs since Lausanne was taking shape." The Turkish War of Independence ended with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which defined the current borders of Turkey.