How Erdogan has become the world's "the elephant in the room"?
September 11, 2020, 7:00 am

zara saleh

In recent years, under Erdogan's presidency, Turkey has become authoritarian and more nationalist country. This has been more obvious especially in the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt, when President Erdogan started to impose an emergency law against its opposition. Consequently, he imprisoned thousands of civilians, military commanders, journalists, judges, politics, Kurdish members of parliament and local councils. He, arguably, pushed the country from so-called secularism into ideological religious example with neo-Ottoman dream and ambition. More seriously, Erdogan is trying to appear as a devout Muslim in his decision that to turn Hagia Sophia from museum into a mosque.

Besides that, Turkey as a NATO member since 1952, has become "the elephant in the room" for NATO at the first when started to confront its principles and values by purchasing of a Russian antiaircraft system, the S-400. That had happened despite the American and another NATO’s members warning. Moreover, NATO's plan for the defence of Poland and the Baltic countries that border Russia, has been blocked by Erdogan AKP's party for long time, due to the Turkey's demand from NATO to list the Kurdish forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces, as a terrorist organisation.

Added To that, Erdogan's warships has confronted the French frigate, while the EU has a plan for the conflict in Libya to support enforce the arms embargo there, and that could undermine the European Union's mission for peace and political solution in Libya.

However, the increasing tension in Mediterranean Sea has become a fact after Turkey has sent its research vessel with warships to disputed water area between Greece and Cyprus, which could led to direct confrontation with Athena due to Erdogan provocation. Consequently, the eastern Mediterranean turn into maritime hot spot because Turkey has repeatedly carried out warship-escorted offshore drilling in the territory. That is why the French President has described the NATO and the US role and presence in the region has "disappeared over time, or in any case, largely been withdrawn”.

Emmanuel Macron has blamed Turkey in the recent Mediterranean crisis as "Turkey’s return to the region as an imperial power fantasising about its history" he said. More seriously, Turkish government and Erdogan has repeatedly declared that they would cease controlling its land and sea borders with Europe and open the passage for Syrian migrants wishing to cross. This threaten has been a fact several time despite the European Union and Turkey's deal in 2016 to prevent migrants from illegally entering Europe. The EU fund for Turkey to help the nearly 4 million Syrian refugees was around six milliard euro, while Erdogan's threats to Europe could be seen as a tool to pressure the EU and international community into supporting Ankara’s recent military involvement in the Syrian conflict to occupy more territories in north part of Syria and in particular the Kurdish region.

In the long run, Erdogan is running the risk of further souring its relations with the EU by this type of threatening that using the refugee’s card. That means, in the fact, Ankara is threatening the EU to open its borders for thousands of jihadists and members of ISIS and Al-Qaeda Front who lives in Turkey or trying to cross the Syrian borders with Turkey and to return to Europe. Furthermore, after Turkish military presence and intervention in Libya, it has been opened another border for immigrants and terrorists to enter the EU via Libyan territories.

In other words, the whole Middle East as a region with east Mediterranean countries and other places of neo-Ottoman ambition of interventions, Turkey under Erdogan's leadership has become a threat for the stability in the world. It has become a real "elephant in the room" not only for NATO members, but for Europe and whole region as well that require finally real actions by the US and its NATO's allies.

Zara Saleh

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”