Western colonial countries had two critical achievements. The first was to occupy land other than their own and the second was to destroy opinion leaders, future vision and hopes in those countries in line with their leadership.
When you look back at the last century, no matter how gloriously so many great empires, ancient cultures and nations appeared in the global arena, they all tend to disappear by losing hope when it comes to the future. Western states were able to form the impression that not even a leaf could move without their will. There is a standard education model, a technology monopoly, a common monetary system and, most importantly, a cultural imperialism monopoly in the order imposed by neo-colonialism.
The Ottoman state was an empire that emerged on the stage of history and conquered one-third of the world, transforming Turkish-Islamic culture into a civilization of justice and mercy globally.
The Ottoman Empire passed through such a period that, let alone the European elites, the clergy, the papacy or enemies of the Turks, its children became hostile to the Ottoman state as they were hostile to the infidels. However, one cannot erase the mission of an empire from memories. It continues to live in archives, history books and memories of nations.
Today, as it was yesterday, the Republic of Türkiye has a mission of its own and in neighboring regions and continents, and many people expected a lot from it. Western cultural imperialism and invasive practices tried every way and method to prevent this potential from emerging. But after 100 years, the sleeping giant woke up, and the historical mission and power of Türkiye converged again.
An Italian political scientist has a striking statement: Whichever Western state comes face-to-face with Türkiye, it is the natural loser, and Türkiye is the natural winner of such an encounter.
Amid the NATO summit held in Vilnius, the German daily newspaper Bild put together a review regarding President Erdoğan, with explanations and opinions of experts and political analysts. The headline reads: Suddenly, Erdoğan is more powerful than ever. The review describes President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as "the new powerful man of the West."
According to Bild, Erdoğan suppresses NATO and gets along well along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He is the deal-maker. It is mentioned in the article that there is hardly a global political crisis in which he is not involved, there is hardly a decision Erdoğan does not take part in, and there is hardly an agreement the Turkish president cannot get anything from. Bild also mentions that, while supplying drones and other military equipment to Ukraine on the one side, he could have a grain agreement signed between Moscow and Kyiv over the Black Sea on the other.
The framework that Bild envisions for Erdoğan was limited to Türkiye-NATO, Ankara-Moscow and Türkiye-Ukraine relations.
We can expand this range a little more. When reviewing Türkiye-Middle East relations, one realizes that the ties of Türkiye with every Middle Eastern country are unique. Türkiye organizes and implements its mission and role together with these brotherly states of the Middle East.
In the Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Türkiye came out of the Karabakh War stronger, and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) regained a mission, step-by-step. The existence of an OTS in the economic, cultural and political arenas, as in the EU, began to be frequently mentioned. Nobody can underestimate the role of Erdoğan in such progress.
The Türkiye-Africa relations are also worth mentioning. Most know Türkiye's influence and mission in Libya and that the strained Turkish-Egyptian ties are much stronger now. The Türkiye-France competition in African countries seems inevitable, and the two states shall change guard in several territories of Africa step-by-step.
Bild also drew attention to the Black Sea and the Baltics in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Additionally, Türkiye's relations with many Balkan and Eastern European countries, especially with the Muslim ones, and countries that worked along with Türkiye during the Ottoman period, including Hungary, are outstanding. Türkiye holds a respectable position in a spectrum extending from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Balkans. Türkiye is not a big country on the scale of Russia, China, India or the United States. But as the irony of fate, Bild emphasized that Erdoğan is the new powerful man in the West.
In Türkiye's last general election, there was an expectation in the Islamic world and all oppressed nations that President Erdoğan would win. On the other hand, former colonialists, as well as their local collaborators within the country, hoped for the opposite.
There are leaders throughout history who have guided nations in hard times, ruled from one end to the other, won wars and stood up again after they fall. Erdoğan will go down in history as the leader who re-awakened the Turkish nation and the Islamic world, like the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror or Alp Arslan of the Great Seljuk Empire.
Türkiye sometimes maintains its relations with Moscow, and sometimes with NATO in a balanced manner. As a regional power with diplomatic genius, Erdoğan is an experienced leader who will not spoil relations with one ally when things go well with the other. The power of Türkiye lies in establishing prudent, fair, equitable and equal relations with all leading states and regional countries. Erdoğan is the leader who uses this power of Türkiye and leadership potential judiciously.
