İbrahim Karagül, former editor in chief of the Yeni Şafak daily, which is a mouthpiece of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling AKP, wrote a February 25, 2021 column titled "We're Calling On The US, Europe... Stop Threatening Turkey! End This Hypocrisy Once And For All!"[1] Addressing the U.S. and Europe, Karagül writes: "Stop threatening Turkey. Enough with your pressure-filled statements, caveats, words aimed at bringing us into line."
Accusing the U.S. and Europe of subverting Turkey internally and besieging it externally, Karagül writes: "Stop attacking Turkey from all directions through terrorism, investing in 'political terrorism' within the country, using your local recruits in Turkey to target the country's morale, and constructing scenarios on 'how to invade the country internally.'" He says that the U.S. and Europe "plan to build an anti-Turkey front from the Mediterranean to the Iranian border" and "to build thick walls between Turkey and the Arab-Islamic region." He accuses them of "amassing weapons to 'fight Turkey,' by blinding us with your mind games under the guise of 'anti-terrorism,'" and of making "preparations for invasion armies to raid the south!"
Karagül then asks: "While all this is happening in front of our eyes, do you think we are going to continue to believe in poppycock such as 'partners' or 'allies'?" He closes by saying that "Regardless of what you do, you will never again find the old Turkey. You will not see the obedient, compliant, meek Turkey whose patience could be tested.... you should re-identify your relations with Turkey based on new realities."
After being editor in chief of Yeni Şafak for eight years, Karagül resigned from the position in December 2020. Hüseyin Likoğlu is now editor in chief for the daily, while Karagül continues to write a column for it.[2]
Karagül, right, cuts a cake at a ceremony in honor of his recent resignation as editor in chief of Yeni Şafak (source: yenisafak.com, December 30, 2020).
Following is Yeni Şafak's translation of Karagül's column:
"Stop Threatening Turkey – Enough With Your Pressure-Filled Statements, Caveats, Words Aimed At Bringing Us Into Line"
"As citizens of this country, sharing the thoughts and sentiments of millions of people, as part of our existential struggle, as an expression of our national honor and identity, we are calling on the U.S. and Europe:
"Stop threatening Turkey.
"Enough with your pressure-filled statements, caveats, words aimed at bringing us into line, your habit playing with our settings, and domineering attitude.
"Stop this hypocrisy, arrogance, and using terrorism to attack, 'political terrorism'
"Put an end to your covert or overt hostile actions and acts of aggression, while on the other hand you make statements alluding to our alliance, strategic partnership.
"Stop this hypocrisy, these false pretenses, this pompous attitude, this pragmatism, this arrogance, and your perception, which has become intolerably offensive to us.
"Stop attacking Turkey from all directions through terrorism, investing in 'political terrorism' within the country, using your local recruits in Turkey to target the country's morale, and constructing scenarios on 'how to invade the country internally.'
"Leave our southern border alone. Put and end to your terror games!"
"You Built Military Bases, Are Amassing Weapons To 'Fight Turkey,' By Blinding Us With Your Mind Games Under The Guise Of 'Anti-Terrorism,'... You Are Carrying On Preparations For Invasion Armies To Raid The South!"
"Do you think we do not comprehend your plan to build an anti-Turkey front from the Mediterranean to the Iranian border, your idea to take control over our entire southern border, to build thick walls between Turkey and the Arab-Islamic region!
"Do we not see that you are prolonging attacks in this zone through the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), its Syrian wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and Daesh, and that you are managing all of them from a single center for the same purpose!
"Do we not realize that you built military bases, are amassing weapons to 'fight Turkey,' by blinding us with your mind games under the guise of 'anti-terrorism,' and that you are carrying on preparations for invasion armies to raid the south!
"We are aware of the goal to shrink Turkey!
"Do you think we do not know that your military presence in Iraq and Syria is not limited to terrorism and to these countries, that it is a part of the siege in the Mediterranean, that you are working on drawing up a regional map, and that the main goal of this map is to stop and shrink Turkey?
"Do you think we do not see that, as the siege from the south continues, what you are planning at the Mediterranean gate, the 'terror corridor' of that map operation, why you are focused on the East Mediterranean, why you amassed all your fleets here, and how the siege is being processed, link by link, throughout the East Mediterranean!
"Closing off the Western gate: You think we aren't aware of your preparations in Western Thrace!
"Do you think we do not understand what steps you are taking in accordance with the plan to 'siege from the sea,' which spans the East Mediterranean and the Aegean; that together with Greece, you are conducting a strategy to confine us to the Aegean coasts; that you are turning the islands into military bases and arsenals; that you have re-identified the Western Thrace as the 'anti-Turkey front'!
"Are we not aware that you built a Western front in the East Mediterranean and the Aegean, that you have assembled all of Europe on this front, that you included certain regional countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in this coalition, that you are planning to close of the West gate, that you are carrying on a military structuring from both land and sea throughout the Turkish border?
"Do we not know that the military drills you conduct almost weekly in these regions, that those preparations are not aimed at protecting Greece, the migrant policy or the Russian expansion, that they are all meticulously fine-tuned for Turkey, that the military units you amassed in Bulgaria and Romania as well as the Western Thrace, at the zero point of our borders, are threatening us!
"What do we believe, as you corner us?
"U.S., Europe, we are calling on you:"
"While All This Is Happening In Front Of Our Eyes, Do You Think We Are Going To Continue To Believe In Poppycock Such As 'Partners' Or 'Allies'?"
"While all this is happening in front of our eyes, do you think we are going to continue to believe in poppycock such as 'partners' or 'allies'? While all this is unfolding, as we are supposedly an ally but really treated like an enemy country, what did you expect us to do? What were we supposed to believe in the face of the aggression you have been conducting at home and abroad?
"What do we believe, what are we thinking while you are trying to corner Turkey with all your might, all your security strategies, all your partners, while launching new acts of aggression from the countries with which we build close relations, as you attempt to 'bring Turkey to line' in all of those regions?
"Did you not attack Turkey at Gezi Park, on in December 2013, in July 2016?
"Did you not try to topple the government with your own intelligence apparatuses in efforts to start a sectarian war? Did you not attempt to eliminate the country's top administration through a financial coup in December 2013?
"Did you not openly attack Turkey on July 15, 2016? Did you not shoot at innocent people of this country? Did you not bomb the country's Parliament and attempt to kill its president?
"Did the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) do all this alone? When they failed, did you not take those terrorists under your protection in countries like the U.S., Greece and Germany?
"Your anti-Erdoğan sentiment has become a disease. We are aware of your thirst for vengeance!
"Do you think that a nation, a state mind that has emerged from such a political legacy and tradition that reigned over North Africa and the depths of Europe, the seas and continents, that has thousands of years of state wealth cannot interpret, perceive or see all this!
"Your enmity against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has become hysterical. You want vengeance because Turkey has taken to the stage of history once more after a century, because it is leading a new rise. We know all this.
"We know that you are as angry with him as you are with Mehmet the Conqueror, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, and Sultan Abdulhamid II. We know that you want to alienate and destroy him and stop Turkey through attacks launched at home and abroad.
"We also know that it's really fear, not rage"
"You Will Not See The Obedient, Compliant, Meek Turkey Whose Patience Could Be Tested... You Should Re-Identify Your Relations With Turkey Based On New Realities"
"But we also know now that this is not rage but fear.
"Your fear of Turkey has dragged you into a hostility that will backfire. We are aware of this as well.
"But the more intensely you attack, with that much greater determination we will fight back. The more you siege, the stronger defense shields we will build. The more you corner Anatolia, the vaster regions we will reach.
"Our speed, strength will increase. The old Turkey is no more
"U.S. and Europe:
"While this is the situation, while your intentions are clear, we re-identified your hypocritical 'ally' claim. We produced new definitions for your threatening statements, dictatorship, and pompous desires to control.
"Let it be known that all the threats and blackmail, all your evils will only serve to boost our speed and strength.
"Regardless of what you do, you will never again find the old Turkey. You will not see the obedient, compliant, meek Turkey whose patience could be tested.
"We closed the chapter to the 20th century. Thus, you should re-identify your relations with Turkey based on new realities.
"It does not work this way; it will not go on this way. You need to understand this now."
