Today's Middle East is dominated by two opposing societal patterns.

One of Türkiye's top business associations, the Independent Industrialists and Businesspersons Association (MÜSIAD), has been running a special program for commercial training. The program entitled the "Young Trade Ambassadors Project" began six years ago and has already benefited hundreds of foreign students who came to study in Türkiye. The head of the youth welfare arm in MÜSIAD who supervised the program said: "Türkiye has a great productive force and foreign students represent natural trade ambassadors who ensure better integration of this force into international markets. They receive training in the fields of foreign trade, export and entrepreneurship and have strong ties with their countries and with the areas where their families reside, which makes them pioneers in foreign trade."

This information points to a couple of important considerations. The first concerns the students and their parents. The young person goes to a safe place to study, where they are unlikely to fall into intellectual or social traps, and obtains not only a university degree but the practical experience gained in major commercial institutions, can enter the workforce on a solid footing and through the shortest of paths. Tens of thousands of students have received scholarships and accommodation expenses from the Turkish government.

The second consideration, which is more extensive and pertains to society at large, is related to the nature of the interest of the Turkish state and the links that it wishes to establish with neighboring countries (or anywhere else). Namely, the creation of commercial links based on highly trained local entrepreneurs who are able to make a contribution to their local economies and – by extension – to the success of the Turkish economy, leading to the creation of a regional economic bloc. This kind of economic integration will naturally be accompanied by social and cultural integration.

Pattern 2

Pattern 2, meanwhile, represents a danger to society in general: The religious institutes in Iran offer scholarships for Arab youth to go to Iran and study the doctrines of Shiism (not engineering or medicine). Other groups of Arab youth receive security and military training and, once back in their home countries, serve as sleeper cells.

Societies instinctively form around the basic bonds of race, language, tribe and clan. However, humankind is able, with the mental capacities that God has endowed them with, to meet with others, gather and seek refuge in higher social values. Bonds of instinct recede in favor of a broader alliance based on intellectual creativity and the art of building social bridges, which lead to the emergence of an advanced civic society. Race, clan and tribal loyalties are signs of ignorance when they become obstacles in the way of this greater alliance.

The higher societal values regulated the relationships between Muslims and followers of other religions within the Muslim community. They created (in a very short time span and in contrast with the theory of evolution and other theories of sociology) one of the most fertile civilizations in human history and the finest example of coexistence between human beings of different races, religions, languages and so on.

Missing framework

To explain these points is not propaganda for the political system in Türkiye, or for the Ottoman Empire, or any of the many other labels that have sabotaged our societies and prevented them from choosing their way of life at the beginning of the 21st century. Rather, it is propaganda for the concept of "the common social good." One in which Arabs, Turks and everyone else living under the same roof much share and protect, safeguarding society and creating prosperity.

What is lacking today is the intellectual framework that makes this culture of belonging a reality. People (in Türkiye and beyond) have enjoyed the life opportunities that the Pattern 1 project brings, without necessarily realizing where it is derived from and the dangers that can derail its future progress. As a result, they focus on the results and neglect to appreciate the root causes of this success story.

This is visible in Türkiye today, where a significant segment of the youth who opened their eyes amid the prosperity brought on by the current political system, seem unprepared to vote for it. They fail to realize what this system means to Türkiye and are unable to grasp its pivotal local and regional societal base and its role as a pillar of Turkish economic security. They cannot envisage the harm to Türkiye’s regional position if Ankara turns away from the current system. Instead, they focus on the services that the government delivers and believe that any other party may deserve the opportunity to rule (like what normally happens in Western democracies) forgetting that these (Western political parties) are united on all the fundamentals questions and differ only in the details of how to achieve the desired results. This risks putting the political system itself and the services it delivers in jeopardy, as we saw to a certain extent in the Istanbul municipal elections.

The first quarter of the 21st century is approaching its end with the people in this part of the world unable to develop for themselves a permeable cultural sensibility, one which draws friends nearer and forces foes to distance themselves. This is, indeed, not the best of starts for this century, especially when compared to the same period of the 20th century, which had a distinctive and strong nationalistic flavor, even before it had started. It is worth noting that the cultural trends of the 20th century were determined by the victors of World War I, while we – societal forces – have the opportunity to be the ones who determine the future course of our current century.

Opportunities to grasp

Arabs and Turks have a very straightforward project to execute (in terms of planning, implementation and marketing), in which the forces of good and evil collide violently and visibly. The strategic shortcomings to date fall primarily on the shoulders of the strategic think tanks in Türkiye, the last place in our region where there still exist real state institutes and the rule of law. One could even say that in a building devoured by fire (our region), Türkiye is the last room that the flames had not yet reached.

Türkiye's economic, military and urban programs (inside and outside its borders) all serve social causes in one way or another; however, they should be accompanied by more corresponding social messages (as is the case in liberalism, communism and socialism, in which the economy, the military and societal ideas go hand in hand). This lack of coherence makes it difficult to harvest the fruits of these programs and sell them to the people they are meant to serve and affect.

During 11 years of an unprecedented and unrivaled program of reconstruction of the Arab cities destroyed due to heavy shelling and terrorism, Türkiye has yet to answer two simple and straightforward questions in the mind of the Arab man: What is Türkiye's interest in restoring civic life in its ruined city? And what is Iran's interest in destroying it?

The 21st century is riddled with conflicts between society and militia forces. Because of this, a significant migration of Arabs to Türkiye is ongoing, and Türkiye had to intervene against terrorism near its borders. Arabs and Turks must put an end to this vicious circle and take refuge in a Pattern 1 joint project.