The Levant, squeezed between big regional ambitions

We tend to forget that Turkey, just as Iran and Russia, is a big bully, that behind all the diplomatic banter and the smiles, it really looks down on the Arabs. After all we never fought the Turks for our freedom; someone else defeated them in World War I so we could be rid of Ottoman shackles. And there are still those in our Levant who miss those shackles it seems and their reasons are foolishly romantic and purely sectarian, that is as far removed from being rational as is possible. Whereas the Turks act out of pure national self interest, not out of some romantic obligation the former seat of the Caliphate may feel towards its erstwhile subjects. The Turks will shift alliances when it is convenient for them to do so.

The European powers were assigned by the League of Nations, forerunner of the equally incapable UN, to prepare the ill equipped Arabs for independence and statehood just over 90 years ago. They failed miserably, that much is clear. Instead of strong independent states, our Arab countries are today riddled with corruption and dormant sectarian, ethnic, and tribal divisions, with each group looking outward for external support. The regime in Syria made an all out civil war inevitable as a result of its inability to bend even slightly to the moderates and democrats. Now they have extremists to contend with.

The Turks know how to push Arab buttons; after all we are so easy and predictable. Case in point: Turkey’s very theatrical exit from its alliance with Israel and its embrace of the Arab Muslim cause cemented with a big bear hug and the diplomatic equivalent of an Arafat-style wet, sloppy kiss on the cheeks, a very emotional moment to be sure. The emotional Arabs thought the Turks had finally seen the light. Many envisioned a revived leadership role for the Turks akin to Egypt’s under Nasser, yes, it went that far. But we had forgotten that the Turks are great at drama; just look at all the popular Turkish soap operas so loved in Lebanon.

We forgot that the Turks, deep down, probably have unresolved issues over loosing their empire, of almost loosing their whole country in the 1920s of the last century, to the Greeks, the French, the British, the Italians, and the Armenians, who occupied parts of Anatolia. The victorious allies at the end of the first Great War foolishly sought to put Anatolia under ‘Christian rule’ and stoked Turkish national sentiments culminating in the Turkish War of Independence. The modern state of Turkey was born out of that crucible of fire. It emerged a modern state, decisive in its action, by and large secular, but above all united, unlike the Arabs who tasted nationalism but ran back inside the warm humid womb of feudal, sectarian, tribalism and remained there to this day.

The Turks may be Muslim, but their faith is the last thing they would ever allow to intrude into their secular and nationalist foreign policy making. But they will not shy from using religion to appeal to emotional Arab populations. They do not want to revive the Ottoman Empire, only a fool would look backwards, they want a Turkish empire, an economic one, with loyal satellite states gathered around it rather than allies, and maybe even a sprinkling of military bases here and there. I doubt they will ever put troops on the ground in the form of occupation, or try to govern unruly Arabs ever again. But like they do in Syria, the Turks will find willing supporters who will cement their power and control over the Levant.

Why should this surprise us, after all Turkey to this day occupies lands that are disputed with Syria, the province of Hatay, or what Arab nationalists still refer to as Iskandarun, and rightly so. That move denied Aleppo a main port for its exports out of Alexandretta, permanently separating the two cities that relied deeply on one another in commerce. Many Arab Christians were driven out by the occupation, among them one of my school teachers. In short, Turks occupy Arab lands today just as surely as Israel does. Turkey also exercises military occupation of Northern Cyprus, all under the guise of protecting Muslim residents from Greek Cypriots.

There are those who object to showing a recent Turkish film that tells the story of the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Istanbul, the ascendancy of Ottoman arms and the utter defeat of Eastern Christendom, militarily speaking that is. This film is designed as a crude propaganda tool aimed at the emotionally immature Arab populations who may see in a modern day ‘Sultan’ a savior of sorts. While I agree that the telling of such a painful chapter in the history of the Christians of the East is uncomfortable for some, I look at it as an opportunity. The opportunity lies in responding to the Turkish version of history with a film of our own, based on our own telling of history. As all sophisticated adults know full well, there are never lies told only conflicting versions of history. The most compelling lie, often told by the winner in war or by national majorities, is usually the version of history that gets printed in history texts.
 

The film does however remind us of a more worrisome Ottoman tendency: Expansion. And as most modern States do when they hunger for war and glory, they do so by proxy. Finding a ready supply of Syrian blood to spill, the Turks go for all out chaos in Syria, in an effort to fuel their region-wide ambitions. Don’t get me wrong, I am no supporter of Arab leaders who spill their own peoples’ blood, or those who oppress them and crush their spirits, but nor am I a supporter of surreptitiously arming a hodgepodge of rebel fighters among whom may very well hide dangerous extremists.

The danger is not to America, which is acting with predictable nonchalance, the danger is to us, the Christians of the East. Lebanon has become a makeshift, temporary ark of sorts for Assyrians, Chaldeans, Copts, Greek Orthodox, and Greek Catholics, among other sects, all fleeing the war in Syria and the wrath of the extremists. For the US, Turkey is an ally; anyone who brings up claims of Ottoman expansionist tendencies is caricatured as an anti-Muslim alarmist, as with one US senator. But what does the US care, all it wants is one man at the top with whom to make a deal. Its foreign policy is one that a child can understand, and out wit.

The UN has failed in stopping the blood shed because there are states that want the war to drag on. Iran is no better than Turkey when it comes to regional ambitions, whether political, military, or economic. Except they have an older imperial pedigree having sparred long and hard with Greeks, Spartans, and Alexander’s Macedonians. Regardless of pedigree and noble intentions, both States are cold, hard, and calculating when it comes to foreign policy and vital national self interest. If one makes a move the other is obliged to make its own or forfeit the game. And a game is exactly how these two lumbering giants view this situation, with the Levant as just a convenient chess board.

 

So, it is left to us, the Christians of the East to find ways to protect ourselves from being crushed between the heavy grinding stones of Iran and Turkey, squeezed as we are between Al Sultan al Fateh and Wilayat al Faqih.