Category: Asia and Pacific

How do Afghans view Turks?

Turks and Afghanis were always good at their relationship. Even there is an idiom in Afghanistan.

“no Afghan was ever killed by a Turkish bullet and no Afghan trained by Turks has ever betrayed his country.”

They trust Turks. Turks loves and determined to protect them. After the NATO intervention in Afghanistan, the Turks who went there as NATO peace force have been saluted as saviors. And Americans knew that since they needed to carry TURKISH FLAG patches on their uniforms in order to avoid an Afghan attack on them.

Turks never shot a bullet in Afghanistan. They never had to. Afghanistani people put Turkish flags in their homes.

After the war, Turks have provided security and training also aids to Afghanistani people.

Not only military, also civillian help has been provided.

They sent their female officers to only Turkey. Not somewhere else…

So what I can say is that, maybe ordinary Turkish citizens do not know much about Afghanistan, they don’t focus or care about them but by the State logic, Turks and Afghans are so close due to close historical and ethnic ties…

Orhan Abuska wrote on Quora

May 30, 2023
What does Erdogan’s win mean for the world?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was declared the winner of the presidential election. What does it mean for the world?

Arshad Khan, a new resident of Istanbul from International Islamic University, Malaysia answers this question as follows:

Victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan means different to different leaders and countries

America: Not an easy ally who bow down to their tune, tough time to deal with unless Trump is incharge

NATO: Dependable ally, second largest military with good relations against projected enemies

Sweden: Difficult road ahead to get in NATO

Europe: Alternative to China to smaller extent with whom they want to lessen their dependency. will not be dancing to their tune on false promises of Entry to european Union. They will gear up trying to be good friends after trying desperately to not get him elected.

Turkic states: Good news, they can play a unified major role

UAE & Saudia: continuation of newly developed friendship, can be a reliable partner against western bullying.

Qatar & Azerbiajan: Big Brother victory which to be celebrated by whole country

China: can continue working on BRI and silk route revival. trustable and important route for their export markets

Russia & Iran: Happiest, will make Turkey the HUB of energy for supplying to west without sanctions

Iraq: can proceed further on development of Highway from Basra to Europe via Turkey

Syria: will try to ally by asking more concession but will get realigned from pressure of Russia and Iran

Afganistan & pakistan: Dreamland of Ertugrul gazi and revival of ottoman empire.

Africa: happiest and want to continue the trade and business and develop it multifold.

May 30, 2023
Is Armenia a failed nation?

I think it is a failed nation. I am not trying to be offensive but there are some things to realize why they are failed.

Average Armenian still lives in 1915. If you try to make a sensible conversation with an average Armenian the conversation ALWAYS comes to “genocide” at some point. It literally sounds like they are BRAGGING about being a victim all the time; it’s bizarre and annoying because it doesn’t add anything to any conversation and it blocks the development of the relationships between their neighbors hence the rest of the world.

They always talk about how they survived a genocide etc and they think their neighboring countries are the ones who should be blamed for their poor economy and social infrastructure. But they don’t see the fact that Israel, a real holocaust survivor nation, was born from their ashes and now they are one of the strongest and most influential countries in the world.

Another thing; A nation’s progress happens through their folk. They need to accept their history and move on. There’s no point to feed the younger generation with hatred. The below pictures are average Armenian’s mindset and the lack of respect for national symbols are saddening. These kids are growing with hate. I’ve seen many similar scenes in Los Angeles. Kids and their grandmas/grandpas are stepping on Turkish flags like they are getting revenge, i think this is pathetic.

(the people in the picture above are Armenian officials..)

I’ve met and interacted with MANY Armenians who live in California and I can honestly say most of them are decent people but extremely ignorant due to their parents. God forbid if you don’t agree with their genocidal claims they become hostile.

I personally don’t think Armenia will be a developed country ever because their mindset is a huge block on development.

Damien Roth

December 23, 2022
Why does Turkey allow ANZAC day celebrations?

Why does Turkey allow Australians to celebrate ANZAC day on its territory?

Here is what the commander of the Turkish forces at Galipoli had to say about the fallen ANZACS;

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

Pretty sure that answers your question.

Mark Peacock
Studied at Murdoch University

Australians are being warned of the possibility of terror attacks in Turkey as Anzac Day approaches. File image. Source: AFP

December 10, 2022
Why Azerbaijan Will Keep Attacking Armenia

The conflict centers on a region disputed for decades.

The mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh has long been at the heart of tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but with a majority ethnic Armenian population, it declared independence in the late Soviet period.

A years long war between Armenia and Azerbaijan followed, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced. It ended in a 1994 cease-fire that left Armenia in control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts that were legally part of Azerbaijan. During the war in 2020, Azerbaijan — with powerful Turkish backing including attack drones — recaptured much of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. The death toll was in the thousands, and tens of thousands of people were forced to flee.

November 30, 2022
Baku Cancels Talks With Yerevan

Armenia, Azerbaijan: Baku Cancels Talks With Yerevan, Threatens Nagorno-Karabakh

What Happened: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev backed out of the Dec. 7 round of peace talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after the latter insisted that French President Emmanuel Macron also be present, Reuters reported Nov. 28. This came as Azerbaijani officials accused Armenia of using the “Lachin corridor” to supply weapons to the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region and as Azerbaijani media began to speculate about the need for a new military offensive in the region.

Why It Matters: Pashinyan and Aliyev failed to meet in Brussels, Belgium, for peace talks in November, and the potential further delay to their December meeting is a clear sign that talks have stalled. The two sides’ failure to make greater progress in peace talks and the recent shift in Azerbaijani rhetoric suggest that Azerbaijan is increasingly motivated to use force to demonstrate its leverage, meaning the possibility of renewed violent episodes either on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border or in Nagorno-Karabakh is rising. A renewed uptick in violence would make a breakthrough in peace talks even more unlikely to occur by the end of this year.

Background: On Nov. 23, Pashinyan refused to sign Collective Security Treaty Organization documents related to providing assistance to Armenia. On Nov. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the talks did not result in any breakthrough toward a peace agreement. On Oct. 12, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said Armenia and Azerbaijan were set to agree to a peace agreement by the end of the year that will include the issue of border delimitation, although he indicated that the treaty would not reference the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Stratfor

November 29, 2022