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VISION 2023: TURKEY AND THE POST OTTOMAN ANNIVERSARY 


A century after the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic, the country is looking to celebrate its hundredth birthday in a way that has become popular throughout the Middle East today. Turkey’s ambitious Vision 2023 aims to put the country in the world’s top ten economies within the next five years by making dramatic improvements to its trade, energy, health care and transport sectors. Announced in 2013 by the then Prime Minister (now President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he gave the country ten years to rise from one of the better off developing countries shaken by a long history of military coups to a nation whose economy, stability and regional influence is to be reckoned with.

One of the massive infrastructure projects which is part of this vision is the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir Highway, which would reduce an eight hour journey to that of three and a half hours, and is set to be completed this year. Such projects are being carried out all across the country, with the primary aim of shifting the congestion of trade and business from Istanbul and the narrow Marmara region further east towards Anatolia. Other domestic aims include achieving a GDP of $2.6 trillion, an average of $25,000 per capita income, and reducing the unemployment rate to just five per cent from its current 11 per cent. Istanbul is also intended to become one of the top international financial hubs to match the likes of London and Singapore.
Currently, Turkey sits at sixteenth place in the world’s largest economies and is Europe’s sixth largest economy. For the country to reach the top ten economies within five years is, some say, an overly ambitious goal. In its bid to achieve these ambitions, large investments have been pumped into rising industries such as the automotive, iron, steel and transportation sectors. The government has also urged the investment of Saudi business into Turkey, with the Minister of the Economy Nihat Zeybekci having emphasised last November that “both the Turkish and Saudi Arabian economies are undergoing technological and sectoral transformation…Let us produce together and sell together to Europe and the world.”

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There is no doubt that Turkey aims to become a leading player in the region’s future. Over the past century, particularly within the last decade, Turkey has risen to become a somewhat hegemonic power within the region, with Iran being its only rival in influence and Israel being its only rival in military might. Its proactive stance in the Syrian conflict – through its famed “Operation Euphrates Shield” and its current “Operation Olive Branch” – has enabled the country to again become a regional power to be reckoned with militarily, economically and diplomatically.

Turkey’s defensive offensive: Operation Olive Branch
One major factor of leverage Turkey has in the region, however, is often overlooked by most: water. In a region with a deep thirst and scarcity for this resource more valuable than oil, Turkey has the advantage in this regard. While its Arab neighbours have an annual average of 300 cubic metres of water per person, Turkey possesses a tenfold increase of that at 3,100 cubic metres per person annually. This is primarily due to the fact that the country holds a staggering 90 per cent share of the Euphrates River and 45 per cent share of the Tigris River, which both originate in the Anatolian mountains of eastern Turkey.

So with control of the majority of the water that flows downstream through Syria and Iraq to the Arabian Gulf, Turkey holds overwhelming influence over the supply of water in the region. The potential of the Euphrates region was realised by the country throughout the sixties and seventies, and its importance to them was best demonstrated during the increased construction of dams built under President Turgut Ozal’s government. After Syria and Iraq complained about Turkey’s manipulation of the flow of water during a dam project in the nineties, Ozal famously remarked “we don’t tell Arabs what to do with their oil, so we don’t accept any suggestion from them about what to do with our water.”

Under Vision 2023, the country is again increasing its construction of dams in pursuit of hydropower and energy. Turkey’s influence on the region’s water supply has been used before and, without any existing formal agreement on the share and distribution of the rivers between the three countries, we can expect it to be used again.

Sultan Erdogan?
There have been some misgivings over the intentions of Erdogan and the nature of his government – are they Islamists, neo-Ottoman fantasists with a dangerous nostalgia for the past and with an aim to occupy its former territories? While that view is an exaggerated one that plays into the hands of his opponents both within and outside Turkey – especially the European Union which vehemently opposes Turkey’s bid for membership – the current AKP government has displayed a love of national history which goes beyond Ataturk’s founding of the Republic.
Indeed, the national aims and visions that have been proclaimed to come after 2023 are those of 2053 and 2071, and these dates were not picked at random. The former will mark 600 years since the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul and the latter will mark the thousandth anniversary of the decisive victory of the Seljuk Turks over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. What we are witnessing is the recognition and commemoration of Turkey’s historic role of leadership of the Muslim world – something that was unspeakable and abhorred by the staunchly secularist Turkish governments since Ataturk’s reformations.

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At a commemoration ceremony held in 2016, Erdogan stated that he rejects “an understanding of history that takes 1919 as the start of 1,000 year history of our nation and civilisation…Whoever leaves out our last 200 years, even 600 years together with its victories and defeats, and jumps directly from old Turkish history to the Republic, is an enemy of our nation and state.”

With “a great nation, a great power” being the motto of this grand vision of Turkey’s centennial since its proclamation in 2013, Erdogan seemed to have full confidence of his position of power by the time the anniversary arrives. And that confidence was not unfounded: he won the Presidency a year later and only last year won the constitutional referendum that would make the role of President an executive one rather than a symbolic one. All he must do to oversee the achievements of the Republic’s hundredth birthday is to win the next Presidential election in 2019.

Regardless of his popularity, hopeful rhetoric, and show of strength, Erdogan is not Turkey and Turkey is not Erdogan. His significance in Vision 2023 and his farsightedness in planning it, however, cannot be overlooked. A century after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, these next five years will prove crucial for Turkey’s future and its place in the world.



THE NEW OTTOMANS? | Empire

TURKEY'S STRATEGIC VISION 2023
Empire - EUROPE : A SUPERPOWER ON THE FAST TRACK 
DECONSTRUCTION OF THE 1923 LAUSANNE TREATY COMING 

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN TURKEY VISION 2023 AND HISTORY OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE 
WHY IS TURKEY BANKING ON ITS CONSTRUCTION MEGA PROJECTS? 

ERDOGAN's MEGAPROJECTS IN TURKEY 
https://www.trtworld.com/video/strait-ta...110bae7ad7
FIRST PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY OPENS IN THE TURKISH CAPITAL 
https://www.trtworld.com/video/news-vide...001591bbe9


A presidential library has been opened in Ankara. It features more than 4-million books in 134 different languages. The library has the biggest capacity in Turkey and can welcome about 6-thousand book lovers at one time. And as Tayyibe Aydin reports, it even accommodates night owls. #NationalLibrary #Turkey #Ankara
GEOPOLITICS OF TURKEY IN ASIA 







GEOPOLITICS OF TURKEY IN EUROPE 


DECONSTRUCTION OF THE 1923 LAUSANNE TREATY IS COMINGAND THE BUILDUP TO THE 2023 TERMINATION OF THE TREATY WILL BE REVIEWED HEREAFTER
 
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN TURKEY VISION 2023 AND
HISTORY OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE




RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN. FUTURE PLANS AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS 




RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN :BRIEF BIOGRAPHY






ERTUGRUL GHAZI
TURKEY's PLAN AS 100 YEAR TREATY ENDS  Part-1



ERTUGRUL TO ERDOGAN, TURKEY AFTER 2023 Part-2



TURKEY WAS THE ONLY MUSLIM COUNTRY NOT CONQUERED AND COLONISED BY THE EUROPEAN POWERS?
Moeed Pirzada


ERDOGAN ANGRY -
"THE EU HAS KEPT US WAITING FOR 52 YEARS!"

TURKIYE CELEBRATES REPUBLIC DAY OCTOBER 29 WITH THE LAUNCHING OF TOGG AND THE CENTURY OF TURKIYE EVENT. THE AIM TO BECOME A TOP 10 ECONOMY IS TO BE APPLAUDED BUT CAN TURKIYE OVERCOME EXISTING CHALLENGES? THIS WILL BE REVIEWED HEREAFTER.


















Turkish 29th October Republic Day Greetings | 99th Anniversary | Recep Tayyip Erdo?an







CENTURY OF TURKIYE :
ERDOGAN UNVEILS AK PARTY’s CENTENNIAL VISION 

Speaking at the The Century of Türkiye event, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hails the country's growth brought about by his party over the past two decades.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to make Türkiye one of the 10 greatest states in the world.

Erdogan's remarks came at the Justice and Development (AK) Party's "The Century of Türkiye" event held on Friday in the capital Ankara.


He hailed the country's growth brought about by his party over the past two decades and vowed progress in the fields of politics, economy, technology, military, and diplomacy.

"We brought Türkiye’s reputation to highest level with our foreign policy," said Erdogan, adding his party wants to make a strong start to the new century of the republic.

At the event Erdogan unveiled a series of programmes, projects, and targets ahead of the next year's presidential and general elections as the country prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2023.

"We share with all humanity the happiness that the 'Century of Türkiye' is also the name of a revolution that will bring democracy, development, peace, and prosperity to all parts of the world, starting with our country and our region," he added.

Listing the government's many achievements, Erdogan said: "We provide quality and free health care and education to our citizens, support elders who have to remain in their homes and present facilities of developed countries to our people with the understanding of social state."

In addition, Türkiye explored 540 billion cubic metres of natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, Erdogan said, adding he "will share the joy of new good news in energy with our nation soon."



READ MORE:Erdogan: AK Party started a new era in Türkiye



Türkiye's global influence

Under AK Party, the number of foreign missions increased from 163 to 255 and the country now exports UAV, armed UAV and similar products to 170 countries, Erdogan said.

"We gave our country a voice, influence on international scale," he said, adding that re-opening the Ayasofya Grand Mosque after 86 years was challenge to global tutelage.



Erdogan said the country was making efforts to ensure peace in the world by talking with conflicting parties.

"At a time when wars, conflicts, and tensions are increasing all around us, we are the only country that makes sincere efforts for peace by establishing an equal, moral, and fair relationship with all parties," he said, adding that Türkiye is getting "more and more appreciation" with its humanitarian and conscientious stance.

Türkiye has been in close contact with both Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February. Erdogan has repeatedly stressed his wish to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy together at the negotiating table in Türkiye to end the conflict. 


Looking ahead, Erdogan said Türkiye will kick off Canal Istanbul, the party's project to create an alternative strait for ship passages.



Ankara will also have $1 trillion of export volume and will become a leading country in metaverse and blockchain, he added.



In addition, he said his ruling AK Party will get rid of the constitution made after the 1980 coup and would propose a new one to the parliament as part of the party's new vision.



READ MORE: Türkiye's AK Party celebrates 21st founding anniversary



Anti-terror operations



Talking about Türkiye's anti-terrorism operations, Erdogan said the country "thwarted attempts to create a terror corridor along our southern border with the operations of Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, Claw, Peace Spring, Spring Shield and Claw-Lock." 



"We have ensured the voluntary return of approximately 530,000 people to the safe zones we created in Syria," Erdogan said.



More than 3.7 million Syrians currently reside in Türkiye, making it the world's top refugee-hosting country.


Türkiye had launched Operation Claw-Lock in April to target the PKK terror organisation’s hideouts in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.
It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.




ERDOGAN vs ATATURK : WILL MODERN TURKIYE’s LEADER FINALLY BURY THE LEGACY OF THE REPUBLIC's ICONIOC FOUNDER ?
https://www.rt.com/news/565660-erdogan-vs-ataturk



It's 100 years since the monarchy was abolished in Türkiye but where is the country headed now?


100 years ago – on November 1, 1922 – the Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, officially abolished the Ottoman Sultanate. Thus ended a monarchy whose origins stretched back to 1299. The Ottoman Empire was replaced by a new state, the Republic of Türkiye, which was based on completely different political principles and a modern ideology. But nothing lasts forever: 100 years later, another charismatic leader has arisen who shows by his deeds that he does not take the legacy of the iconic leader Ataturk as gospel.



So, how far has Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Türkiye ventured from Kemalism?




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Rebuilding From Scratch



On October 30, 1918, an agreement was signed aboard the British warship Agamemnon in the port of Mudros on the Island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea, which officially ended the Ottoman Empire’s participation in the First World War. It had fought on the side of Germany and Austria and had suffered total defeat. Without the consent of the other members of the Entente, the British imposed hard conditions that entailed the loss of vast territory, occupation of its remaining lands, and the transfer of a significant quantity of its resources to the victors. The power of Sultan Mehmed VI was de facto reduced to fulfilling the will of the occupiers.



Just four years later, on November 1, 1922, the monarchy came to an end. The empire would be replaced by a new state, the Republic of Türkiye, headed by Mustafa Kemal, who would receive the surname Ataturk (‘Father of the Turks’ or ‘Great Turk’) from parliament in 1934.



Soviet Russia provided Ataturk with great assistance in liberating the nation. In 1921, the parties signed a friendship treaty in Moscow, after which Türkiye settled problems with the Soviet Transcaucasian republics. This allowed Ataturk to focus on the war with Greece, during which the Bolsheviks helped the Turks with finances, weapons, and even food, despite famine in their own country.





(L) Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; ® Vladimir Lenin ©  Getty Images; Hulton-Deutsch Collection / CORBIS / Corbis via Getty Images



Winning this war was a turning point in preserving Türkiye’s independence, which allowed it to move forward to a new stage in its history. On October 29, 1923, the founding of the Republic of Türkiye was officially declared, which Ataturk deliberately built as the antithesis of the Ottoman Empire.Kemalism is based on six principles (or ‘six arrows’, as they say in Türkiye). The first four arrows were formulated in 1927, and two more were added in 1931. The six arrows doctrine was finally enshrined in the Constitution of 1937. These six principles are as follows: republicanism, populism, nationalism, laicism (secularism), statism (state regulation), and reformism.



Ataturk and Erdogan

In modern Türkiye, Ataturk is still universally revered as a military commander who saved the country’s independence, as well as a great reformer. But the course of the current president’s term in office points to a deep rethinking of the legacy of the founder of the modern state that, nevertheless, never quite crosses Ataturk’s red lines.

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Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), told RT that, in today’s Türkiye, the principles of Kemalism are strictly adhered to by the opposition, but not the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“On the one hand, Erdogan takes a critical approach to Ataturk. He doesn’t emphasize his principles but still acknowledges his merits as a leader. And symbolic veneration for Ataturk remains: there are nearly more monuments to him and portraits of him in Türkiye now than there were dedicated to Lenin in the USSR. So, it’s clear that Erdogan cannot insult Ataturk. Moreover, the Constitution provides for prison terms for people who do this. However, Erdogan did call Kemal a drunkard once, albeit, without mentioning his name. It is true that Ataturk died of cirrhosis of the liver,” he says.

Amur Hajiyev, a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, agreed that, while Erdogan does not officially reject Ataturk’s legacy, he still frames him in the broader context of Turkish history.

“There are 16 stars on the emblem of the President of Türkiye, which represent the 16 states in Turkic history. Erdogan positions modern Türkiyeas a continuation of those traditions. In this context, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, of course, plays a significant role in the history of Turkish statehood.

Erdogan is not on a mission to eradicate Ataturk’s legacy. He thinks something along the lines of: ‘We had the Ottoman Empire, then the First World War, after which a new republican Türkiyewas born. And if at that time, the ideas proclaimed by Kemal were in step with the times, they no longer are today. It’s just that times have changed. We need to react to this and, if necessary, add new provisions.’ There is no culture intent on abolishing Ataturk and Kemalism here, despite the fact that its adherents now represent the main opposition force,” the analyst told RT.

Supporters wave flags and cheer while listening to Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) speak during a election rally in Istanbul, Turkey. ©  Erhan Demirtas / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Nadein-Rayevsky points out that the Republican People’s Party, which is currently in opposition, was created by Ataturk. However, even during his lifetime, its influence gradually began to wane. This ultimately resulted in the victory of the Democratic Party in the parliamentary elections of 1950, after which an attempt was made to revive Islamism. This movement was short-lived, however, as it was suppressed by the military with the help of a coup in 1960, the researcher explained.

“In the following years, Islamists were alternately permitted and banned in Türkiye. In 1983, the Islamist Welfare Party was created, from which Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party emerged. The current president started his political career as the head of the youth branch in Istanbul,” the expert said.

According to Hajiyev, the Republican People’s Party does not shy away from revising some of Ataturk’s principles. Its current leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has talked about the need to give women the legal right to wear a hijab – a complete anathema to Kemalist ideology.

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Help God?

Erdogan’s obvious support of religion in the secular state is perhaps the most noticeable departure from Ataturk’s legacy.

Victor Nadein-Rayevsky explains that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s lifelong mission was to separate the state from religion, seeking to achieve freedom of thought and independence from religious influence in all aspects of public life:

“Ataturk banned the fez which had become a symbol of tradition, as well as discouraged women from wearing chadors and burkas. All the symbols of the past were burned in public. Ataturk's influence was huge; people listened to him. He made the Turks wear European clothes. His greatest achievement was getting rid of the waqf, a system of inalienable donations for religious or charitable purposes, and seizing the religious institution's capital. This way, he cut off the mosques from financial support. It was extremely important. After that, Ataturk banned any form of religious interference in politics; propaganda of the Ottoman Caliphate was punishable with jail time.”

The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, originally built as a Christian cathedral called the Church of the Holy Wisdom, was perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Kemal Ataturk’s reforms – in 1934, he made it into a museum to show that Türkiye was now free of the heavy Islamic burden of the Ottoman past.

However, in 2020, Hagia Sophia re-opened for worship once again, with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who justified his decision by saying that the nation required this change. Although the move was criticized by UNESCO, the European Union, the World Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Russian Orthodox Church, it didn’t stop President Erdogan from personally reciting from the Koran inside the mosque as part of the opening ceremony on July 24, 2020.


The islamic decoration on the domes of the interior of Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey. ©  Eric Lafforgue / Art In All Of Us / Corbis via Getty Images

In 2021, in another symbolic move, President Erdogan opened a new landmark mosque in Taksim Square, an area that for a long time had remained a religion-free hub in Istanbul.

According to Gajiev, officially, the current government does not steer much from the track of Ataturk’s reforms and Türkiye remains a secular state granting its citizens complete freedom of faith. Also, the Directorate of Religious Affairs established by Kemal Ataturk in 1924 is still in place and functioning.


And yet, the situation on the ground indicates that a slow Islamization is underway in Türkiye, and that there is a certain demand for it in society. Even after secularization, many Turks continued to go to mosques or pray at home, including those who did not consider themselves religious.

“The only difference was, they no longer prayed five times a day, but once or twice. The popularity of religion has been growing, which is why smaller towns and villages are these days great supporters of Erdogan. In large cities, the population mostly sides with Erdogan’s opposition, such as the Kemalist Republican People's Party and others,” expands Nadein-Rayevsky.



For the past 20 years, Türkiye has been under conservative rule leaning more towards traditional rather than progressive values.

As Amur Gajiev sums it up, “There’s no saying that Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party upholds political Islam, although ideologically, they do tend to be rather in opposition to Kemal’s legacy. However, in terms of the pace of these processes, it makes more sense to speak of evolution rather than revolution.”

How many of Ataturk’s arrows have reached Erdogan?

One of Kemal Ataturk’s founding principles that is not fully adhered to by present-day Türkiye is etatism (from French état, or state) which asserts the state’s right to determine the societal structure and social life, as well as to interfere with and control the state’s economy. During the early days of the Turkish Republic, the government bankrolled a lot of industrial projects through the system of state-owned banks due to the absence of strong private businesses.

According to Gajiev, a lot of businesses in Türkiye were privatized between 1983 and 1991 when Turgut Ozal was prime minister and then president of Türkiye. “It was then that Türkiye became largely a free market economy, and etatism became the thing of the past,” he said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan ©  Ercin Top / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

At the same time, as Nadein-Rayevsky points out, state involvement in business is still massive, as it continues to own a lot of the country’s assets and enterprises, such as ore mines.

“The country’s finances are managed by the Central Bank of Türkiye which saw four different people at its helm in just two years because Erdogan keeps pressuring them to lower the key interest rate,” the expert noted.

Gajiev believes that one might argue that etatism is still there, though mainly as part of the overall concept of Türkiye as a nation-state.

“The Turks have always been proud of their nation. Today, they believe that Türkiye deserves more and want it to become one of the centers of the multipolar world,” he explained.

The principle of reformism that sought to change Türkiye into a modern state through westernization during Ataturk’s time isn’t perceived as the cornerstone of the state’s policy anymore.

Gajiev observes: “Today, both the society at large and establishment rather believe that modernization does not require westernization – especially now that the EU-Türkiye relationship is in pretty much ‘freeze’ mode and the country is not likely to join the European space any time soon. So Türkiye is drifting away from this principle.”



The remaining three principles (or ‘arrows’) of ‘Ataturkism,’ i.e., republicanism, populism (with its objective of building a true populist state), and sovereignty (“sovereignty belongs to people unconditionally”) are, in the experts’ opinions, pretty much still at work in Türkiye even now, in the 21st century.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan ©  Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Who will stop the sultan?

2023 is bound to mark an important milestone that will determine Türkiye’s future development through presidential and parliamentary elections. After the republic’s constitution was amended in 2017, current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan gets yet another chance to run for office after being the country’s prime minister and president for two decades.

Analysts say that this time, Erdogan might lose the presidential race – and most likely to the Kemalists. A lot will depend on the candidate who is yet to be put forward by the opposition alliance that counts six parties. Two big arguments against the 68-year-old Erdogan for many people now are the Kurdish issue and skyrocketing inflation.



Still, President Erdogan is full of ambition. On October 29, 2022, in his speech timed to the 99 years since the foundation of the republic, he shared his vision for Türkiye’s future for the next century and promised the nation a new constitution. Among other things, he mentioned protecting the rights of women who wish to wear headscarves for religious reasons, as well as protecting family values against the “threat posed by perverted movements” (which most likely involves cracking down on the LGBTQ+ movement).

“Erdogan believes that Kemalism is no longer relevant, which is why he proposes adopting a new constitution in 2023 to capture new founding principles for the state,” concluded Gajiev.

Maxim Hvatkov, a Russian journalist focusing on international security, China's politics and soft-power tools.
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