Posted on 09/12/2011 4:12:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan departs Monday on a four-day diplomatic visit to North Africa, in a trip aimed at expanding Turkey's growing influence in a region full of political upheaval.
Prime Minister Erdogan will begin his trip in Cairo, where he is expected to meet with the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and Mr. Erdogan's Egyptian counterpart, Essam Sharaf.
The Turkish leader also plans to lay out his regional foreign policy vision during meetings with the Arab League, as well as with the young leaders who helped oust former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolt earlier this year.
Prime Minister Erdogan is expected to visit Tunisia Wednesday, as well as meet with the head of Libya's National Transitional Council on Thursday.
Some in Israel have expressed concern that Mr. Erdogan's "Arab Spring" diplomatic tour will stoke anti-Israeli tension...
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.voanews.com ...
Erdogan’s going to piss off his Iranian allies if he keeps this up. There are Erdogan billboards going up in Egypt.
Turkey PM’s photos stuck on billboards in Cairo
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=78777
Deadly Israel raid was “cause for war,” Turkish PM says
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=78745
Turkish aid ship arrives in Somalia
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=78750
Turkish technical team in Somalia
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=78744
A delegation comprised of 170 people including experts of several Turkish institutions and ministries are visiting Somalia with initiatives of Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency.
This will sound unrelated, but bear with me.
The Roman Empire could not maintain a sufficient strength along the Balkan border to prevent constant barbarian raiding. Therefore, so that the barbarians didn’t get too powerful, the empire sent agent provocateurs into the Balkans where they raided first group A, leaving evidence against group B, then Group B leaving evidence against Group A and so on. They kept every would-be raider fighting amongst themselves.
The Empire had relative peace on its border for a long, long time. The Balkans, however, have not had any peace since. I’m thinking that there are so many little groups in the Middle East that they could be well entertained by each other for generations. The Ottoman Turks are still remembered as the brutal conquers they were and would apparently like to be again. Surely somebody wants a piece of Ottoman revenge?
Is this guy trying to recreate the Ottoman Empire?
Did you ever wonder why 9/11 was picked? The Ottoman Empire (Turks) were defeated on the 9/12/ 1683 by King Jan III Sobieski a Polish King.
The decisive battle took place on 12 September, after the united relief army of approximately 80,000 men had arrived. Just as much as they want to go back to the 1400 years and live like the Prophet. They also want to go back to when they were rulers of a lot of Europe and the Middle East. Back to the 11 of September whatever year. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary is celebrated on 12 September on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church in commemoration of the victory in this battle of Christian Europe over the Muslim forces of the Ottoman Empire. And they are still pissed about it. So yes, they want to recreate the Ottoman Empire.
Thanks.
Yes, I’m familiar with most of that history. But I think the Saudis (and others) might have some objection to being ruled by the Turks again.
Perhaps he thinks he can build a regional base of power from which he can act as a pseudo-Sultan.
The Egyptians banned the fez at one point, because the rulers thought it symbolized Turkish dominance. Is this what the ‘Arab spring’ was really all about? Was it fomented by the Turks?
Just you wait and see.
Yes.
The Ottoman Turks ruled over the Egyptians in an arrogant and brutal manner for nearly 3 centuries before the Mamluks and Albanian mercenaries kicked them out 200 years ago. Egyptians have long memories. I would not expect them to cozy up to the Turk too much, except to take some advantage of him.
Never trust anyone named Hussein, anyway.
The Saudis are left on one side, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt on the other. That’s a six to one population advantage for the Saudis’ enemies. They’ve lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Iran has missiles overlooking the Red Sea. Yemen is back to being a mess. The Shia in the Kingdom are not reliable, and basically run the oil patch. The House of Saud’s response has been to try to overthrow the pro-Shia Alawite dictatorship in Syria to solidify the area, and to extend influence behind (west of) Egypt. They dealt with the obvious Iranian coup attempt in the Gulf. The one obvious move they need to make is to make peace with Israel, but they’ve opted instead to try to gain control of the so-called Palestinian movement by cleaning out the Iranian proxies (Syria, Lebanon, and soon, Gaza).
Believe it or not, this appears to be effective divide-and-rule foreign policy by Zero et al. But of course, those jerks also want to wipe Israel off the map.
-——I think the Saudis (and others) might have some objection to being ruled by the Turks again-——
The Saudis were never ruled by the ottoman Empire. Although they controlled Mecca and todays Western Provence, the Turks did not control the central deserts of the Eastern Provence. After the breakup, Abdul Aziz put together an army and a coalition and put all the pieces together including Jeddah, Mecca and the west. He kicked out Husseins who went to Baghdad and later Jordan.
The Gulf States will never submit to Turkish rule but may allow Syria. Lebanon and Jordan to be reabsorbed. The move will counter Iran and the greater threat
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