Warning over 'theocratic nationalism' in Iran
Ayhan Simsek - The New Anatolian /
Ankara A group of Turkish retired top generals and ambassadors diagnosed late last week the development of "theocratic nationalism" in Iran and asked for a genuine assessment of possible negative implications of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new policies and nuclear program on the highly sensitive balance in Turkish-Iranian relations. The Foundation for Middle East and Balkan Studies' (OBIV) Foreign Policy and Defense Studies Group, including former Foreign Ministers Vahit Halefoglu and Ilter Turkmen, former ambassadors Guner Oztek and Candemir Onhon, as well as retired top generals Ahmet Corekci and Salim Dervisoglu, prepared a report on the recent developments in Iran and their implications for Turkey.
The report entitled "Our distant neighbor, Iran" pointed to the differences between Turkey and Iran, such as political regimes, religious sects, different methods in foreign policy, but also stressed that due to their similar size, power and strategic positions, both countries refrained from getting into conflicts and enjoyed rather peaceful but frosty relations. Commenting on recent developments, the report underlined that Turkey now has to develop a genuine assessment of President Ahmadinejad's new policies and nuclear program, and their possible negative impact on the sensitive balance between Iran and Turkey.
The report did not elaborate what Turkey's position might be in a time of a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, but recalled Ankara's decision in the late '90s to build a natural gas pipeline from Iran, despite objections by its strategic partner the U.S. "This shows that neighborhood and mutual benefits may become more significant for Turkey than being in harmony with its main strategic partner U.S.," the report stressed.
One of the most striking parts of the report was the prediction of a new political transformation in Iran. The retired generals and ambassadors said that Iran will soon face a new power struggle and change, but this will not be towards democracy but towards further radicalization. "What we refer to by radicalization is not a religious fundamentalism. We have a new growing tendency in Iran which can be described as nationalism with religious elements," the report underlined, also describing Ahmadinejad as the representative of this growing nationalism. According to the report, Ahmadinejad, by insisting on the nation's nuclear program, is seeking to develop potential for possible nuclear arms and also fueling nationalist feelings among Iranians.
The report further stressed that foreign pressure on Iran's nuclear program is doing nothing but fueling these nationalist sentiments. The report concluded by asking, "How are we going to define an extreme nationalist, aggressive Iran with nuclear weapons and missile technology? Are we going to talk about a new phenomenon, a theocratic nationalism?"
Ankara A group of Turkish retired top generals and ambassadors diagnosed late last week the development of "theocratic nationalism" in Iran and asked for a genuine assessment of possible negative implications of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new policies and nuclear program on the highly sensitive balance in Turkish-Iranian relations. The Foundation for Middle East and Balkan Studies' (OBIV) Foreign Policy and Defense Studies Group, including former Foreign Ministers Vahit Halefoglu and Ilter Turkmen, former ambassadors Guner Oztek and Candemir Onhon, as well as retired top generals Ahmet Corekci and Salim Dervisoglu, prepared a report on the recent developments in Iran and their implications for Turkey.
The report entitled "Our distant neighbor, Iran" pointed to the differences between Turkey and Iran, such as political regimes, religious sects, different methods in foreign policy, but also stressed that due to their similar size, power and strategic positions, both countries refrained from getting into conflicts and enjoyed rather peaceful but frosty relations. Commenting on recent developments, the report underlined that Turkey now has to develop a genuine assessment of President Ahmadinejad's new policies and nuclear program, and their possible negative impact on the sensitive balance between Iran and Turkey.
The report did not elaborate what Turkey's position might be in a time of a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, but recalled Ankara's decision in the late '90s to build a natural gas pipeline from Iran, despite objections by its strategic partner the U.S. "This shows that neighborhood and mutual benefits may become more significant for Turkey than being in harmony with its main strategic partner U.S.," the report stressed.
One of the most striking parts of the report was the prediction of a new political transformation in Iran. The retired generals and ambassadors said that Iran will soon face a new power struggle and change, but this will not be towards democracy but towards further radicalization. "What we refer to by radicalization is not a religious fundamentalism. We have a new growing tendency in Iran which can be described as nationalism with religious elements," the report underlined, also describing Ahmadinejad as the representative of this growing nationalism. According to the report, Ahmadinejad, by insisting on the nation's nuclear program, is seeking to develop potential for possible nuclear arms and also fueling nationalist feelings among Iranians.
The report further stressed that foreign pressure on Iran's nuclear program is doing nothing but fueling these nationalist sentiments. The report concluded by asking, "How are we going to define an extreme nationalist, aggressive Iran with nuclear weapons and missile technology? Are we going to talk about a new phenomenon, a theocratic nationalism?"
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Turkic Speakers Join Forces in Iran’s Parliament
The unprecedented formation of a cross-factional parliamentary group of Turkic speakers stirs controversy in Iran.
This move indicates the truth of many disputed facts about the Turkification of Iran and the Turkic origins of Persians:
1- Shiism, Sunnism, and Sufism ore just various rival forms of Turkic Islam and all of them are Turkic tool to rule over the Iranians, Arabs, Levant, India, Asia, and Africa.
2- The Turkification of the Iranian people passed through at least three phases:
A. The First Phase: was carried out by Turkic invaders, migrants, and settlers that led to the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire and the invention of Persian stock and Persian Zoroastrianism starting from 550 BC.
B. The Second Phase: was done by the Safavid Dynasty which violently imposed Shiism on Iran and turned the Iranians from Sunnis to Twelvers Shiat by force starting from 1501 AD.
C. The Third Phase: (here is the role of Mr. Ahmadi and all the regime of Islamic Iran) is an on going process that started by restoring the original name “Iran” in 1935 by Reza Shah Pahlavi to replace the imposed name “Persia” without restoring the Iranian identity of Iranians, who are still considered ethnically “Persians”, while they only speak Persian. This developing phase is aiming to erase the Iranian ancient indigenous national identity, and specially the Kurds who could lead the revival of other native Iranian groups.
The recent move by Turkic parliamentarians could push the Iranians to stand up against the processes of Turkification and Persianisation of Iran.
Iranian “Islamic” Parliament and the Supreme Leader of Iran are conspicuously silent towards the past and present Turkification of Iranians and the falsification their identity, history and cultures.
Al-Monitor published the following article on January 18, 2017, written by Saeid Jafari.
(Al-Monitor is a media site launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel and based in Washington, DC.)
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