Turkey’s Prime Minister Points at the US, as a major cause of Mid East terrorism

Reported by: Soha Middle East Correspondent

The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyep Erdogan is currently visiting Pakistan. As part of his tour he has visited many of the flood ravaged areas of the country. He met personally with the victims of the flood and announced there will be more aid for them and he inspected the relief work going on in the areas.

His visit was given due importance in the Pakistani media but it was his bold and loud statements on the political situation of the region that made headlines.

Some media reports published here in Islamabad have claimed that the Turkish Prime Minister had held the ‘International Powers’ responsible for all the terrorism going on in Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.

The Prime Minister while addressing the people of these countries said that they should make it very clear in their minds that all terrorists are not and can never be Muslims.

Erdogan said that the need of the hour was unity and it was the only solution to the turmoil in the region. He said by building better economic relations the countries of the region can appear stronger than any other powerful states of the world.

The next day Prime Minister Erdogan accused the US of supporting the insurgents in Pakistan and Turkey. He obviously pointed towards the Kurds in Turkey and the so-called Taliban in Pakistan.

After the US invasion of Afghanistan the whole region has been in a mess. Most of the countries are battling insurgencies and have tolerated a heavy loss of lives.

Since the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq many people in the Muslim world have been clearly saying that all was actually a plot to create instability in the Muslim countries.

Opinion polls have also suggested that a large majority of Muslims consider the US the actual cause of the current turmoil in the region.

But this has been the first time that the leader of a Muslim country, besides Ahmedinejad has said something like that loud and clear.

Turkey is a secular country that has always enjoyed cordial relations with the West. It is the only Muslim majority country that has a permanent membership in NATO. Now such a statement from its leader obviously reflects a change in the minds and policies in Turkey.

The Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the western prejudice has persuaded Turkey to look towards the East specifically the Muslim world. The cold attitude of Europe on Turkey’s membership into the EU, primarily due to its Muslim identity, had already created gaps.

The statement of Erdogan does not only reflect a change in Turkish thinking but they actually point towards the changing trends in the region at large.