Ataturk and the Great Mediterranean Union

17/02/2024

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Levent Agaoglu wrote (x)

Ataturk’s Testament

“We would like the unity we want to establish to be very different from the unions (unions) that have passed in history”

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 27 February 1938

The basis of our thesis on the Great Mediterranean Union, which we put forward in our article, is the fact that it is an idea and strategy developed by Atatürk himself. In order to create a framework for our thesis, the references of the Great Atatürk on the Mediterranean, Asia, Europe, Africa, Asia, Balkan Union, Syria and Iraq, and the Confederation, Iran, Turkestan, Russia, and Ukraine, based on his own words about the basic concepts we have mentioned here, have been examined.

If there is to be talk of unity, Turkey should develop its options through politics together with its neighbors. Each of these alternatives was actually envisioned by the Great Ataturk.

Atatürk’s statement that “Culture and economy are the bases that give direction to all kinds of politics” clearly shows the goals of unity. Cultural and economic similarities/differences are indicative of which countries these unions will take place around.

What are the following words uttered by Atatürk in 1938, eight months before his death, about the goals of unity, if not a testament?

“It has been seen in history that other nations have united and lived together for centuries. We want the unity we want to establish to be far different from the unions (unions) that have passed in history. The main cornerstone of such a high historical ideal does not remain only in the principles of temporary politics. The main cornerstones of this are needed so that it is full of cultural and economic gems. Because culture and economy are the bases that give direction to all kinds of politics. The bright days we are waiting for are probably not even far from us. Those who will come after us will surely celebrate the brightness of those days with good fortune.” It was sung at the tea banquet held at the Çankaya mansion on the wishes of Balkan journalists. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk February 27, 1938)

Where are those days, the “bright days that should be filled with good fortune”? Where are the inheritors? When will we put the will of the great Ataturk into practice?

In the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East/North Africa, Central Asia, Russia/Ukraine; in short, when will it establish the troops that will be “far above the unions (troops) that have passed in history” in the “Five Seas Region”, of which we are located in the center; When are we going to implement what we have established?

Greater Mediterranean Union

The global power USA determined its dominance in the world in the last quarter of the 19th century, with the maritime strategy developed by the Maritime Institute, which it institutionalized 150 years ago, and has survived to this day by ensuring its continuity. Because both sides of the American continent, where the USA is located, are covered with oceans, in order to ensure its security, it is necessary to secure these coasts with strong fleets. These fleets will then navigate the world’s seas and oceans, displaying the flag and ensuring the continuation of the global dominance of the United States.

Turkey, on the other hand, is covered with seas on three sides, not two. The longest coasts of the Mediterranean are located in Turkey, and the strategic heartland of the Mediterranean is the eastern Mediterranean region, in which Turkey is located. From here, there is a passage to the Black Sea, the Indian Ocean and then the Pacific Ocean through the Turkish Straits and the Suez Canal. Therefore, as the great Atatürk determined at the end of 1937, our main strategy should be the maritime strategy and, as a derivative of this, the design of the Great Mediterranean Union.

The Great Ataturk clearly revealed his vision of shaping Turkey’s unity goals in the Mediterranean basin with the order “armies, your first target is the Mediterranean” during the War of Independence. The first practical implementations of this vision were in the form of the Balkan Pact (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia and Greece) and the Sadabat Pact (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan) initiatives. Thus, 2 unions were established among today’s 14 countries. When we add Atatürk’s prediction that the Turks within the Soviet Union would one day gain their independence, we can deduce from this the goal of a Greater Mediterranean Union based on the Mediterranean basin and including the geography of Turkestan.

The interpretation of Atatürk’s vision of the “first target Mediterranean” seems to be the Great Mediterranean Union today. We can also add here that the Great Ataturk clearly stated that the Turks continued their dominant periods in the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, as we have reported here. As we can clearly see when we look at the map, the Mediterranean basin is surrounded by these three continents. In this way, the goal of a Greater Mediterranean Union, including the Mediterranean coasts of three continents, is a vision of Atatürk that we can adapt to the present day by incorporating the centers of the Mediterranean, Turkey and Turkestan.

Map of the Proposal of the Greater Mediterranean Union

Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Greece
Black Sea-Caspian Basin: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine
North Africa: Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia
Southern Europe: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal
Persian Gulf: Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Pakistan
Eastern Mediterranean: Palestine, Greek Cypriot Administration, Israel, TRNC, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan
Turkestan Basin: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

The littoral countries of the Five Seas have been evaluated within the scope of the Great Mediterranean Union. Turkey’s geopolitical position is like a wheelhouse dominating the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. Flight times from Istanbul to Lisbon, Casablanca and Bishkek, which are the most extreme points in the Greater Mediterranean region, where Turkey is located at the center, are 5 hours. It is a distance that can be traveled and returned on the same day.

The dynamism of economic and cultural vitality that will be developed through the union between the regions around the Mediterranean basin, such as the Balkans-Rumelia, southern Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, and Turkestan, will begin to live again in the Greater Mediterranean basin, which is the region of origin, thanks to the vitality that ensures that the Pacific Ocean countries are defined as the New Mediterranean today.

The number of 44 countries considered within the Union is a wider participation considering the number of 28 countries that are members of the European Union. The reason for the high number here is due to the rich accumulation of relations with many countries, mutual cultural and trade exchanges with many countries in the Mediterranean basin for more than 1000 years.

In the Balkan Pact and Sadabat Pact unions developed by Atatürk, 14 countries were members of these unions in the thirties. This is the number of countries that is half of the EU today. Again, the ideal expressed by Atatürk about the troops should be mentioned here again.

“We would like the unity we want to establish to be very different from the unions (unions) that have passed in history”

Therefore, the share increases we will achieve as a result of a mobilization, especially in Asian markets where we are insufficient and weak, should be a priority target. When we pay attention, we clearly see that the United States of America is not among the countries in these three continents that we count as stakeholders. However, with the Greater Middle East Project, the USA has made our country an element of its own divide-and-rule strategy.

While the Turkish empire was advancing with land wars in Rumelia, the main target, starting from Fatih Sultan Mehmet, was the Mediterranean ports and the cities around them, and the Turks fought for 25 years in the steep geography of Albania to land in the Mediterranean. In particular, they took all the ports and cities on the North African coast, the Sea of Islands and the Adriatic Sea under their sovereignty. The rich accumulation obtained as a result of the Mediterranean domination is the most important infrastructure element of the Great Mediterranean Union both culturally and economically. Today, the ports that Turkish exporters can reach in the fastest and fastest way have become ports lined up in the south, north and east directions of the Mediterranean.

Despite Ataturk’s attempts at unity with today’s 14 countries in the Balkans and Western Asia, which are the sub-regions of the Greater Mediterranean Basin, Turkish politicians have turned Turkey into an instrument of the transatlantic Greater Middle East Project, which is an attempt to divide the Mediterranean basin.

5-hour flight distance map

We are in the center of the main markets, a 5-hour flight away. Daily markets where you can go in the morning and return in the evening. Morocco, Sudan, Kazakhstan, England. We are the center of markets in changing the 5-hour flight. The 5-hour flight distance route is the areas where 70 countries are located within this circle. The compass points east, west, north and south in all directions. There is a productive cycle in the circle. Turkey’s unity route is the Great Mediterranean basin, which includes 44 countries within this circle. In history, Turks have established sovereignty in the lands of all but 5 of these countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Slovenia).

Flight distance from Lisbon to Istanbul: 3233 km; Flight distance from Istanbul to Bishkek: 3732 km; Total 6965 km
Istanbul-Bishkek: flight duration 5 hours; Istanbul-Casablanca: flight duration 5 hours; Istanbul-Lisbon: flight time 5 hours

Areas surrounded by the basin;

3 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa); 2 Transition continents (Eurasia, Africa); 5 Seas (Black, White, Red, Caspian, Persian Gulf) and 3 Oceans of Passage (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific)

The dynamic cockpit view of the center of the basin reveals a global and variable course. When we look at the shares of Turkey in the purchases of goods from the world by these three continents through exports, we see that the African continent ranks first with a share of 3.3% as of 2022, followed by Europe with a share of 1.55%, and Asia ranks behind with a share of 0.65%. (Source: https://www.trademap.org/)

Due to my profession as an exporter, I made business trips to 15 countries in the Great Mediterranean basin for 33 years between 1987-2019. These countries were located in the Balkans, North Africa, Southern Europe, the Persian Gulf, and the Eastern Mediterranean sub-regions. During the nearly five years I was in Hong Kong, when I looked at the Mediterranean region from afar, I realized that the region has a unique cultural integrity and network of relations that is very different from the cultures of the Far East. In fact, there were two major leading countries in the region; Turkey and Italy.

Just as Italian developed as a Lingua franca (common language) related to maritime terms, Turkish also created a Lingua franca dictionary of food, drink and clothing culture, especially in the Balkans basin, northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish has added words to a total of 19 languages, and among them, 13 languages (Arabic, Albanian, Bulgarian, Persian, French, Croatian, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Urdu, Greek) were the languages of the countries of the Greater Mediterranean Basin. Professor Dr. Günay Karaağaç Turkish Dictionary of Verintiler. Turkish Language Association Publications. Ankara 2021)

Conclusion: “The first target is the Mediterranean”

The main reason why Atatürk identified the Mediterranean as the first target is related to the maritime dynamism that the fact that we are covered with seas on three sides at the center of his strategy will provide. This dynamism will create opportunities for cooperation and unity with the countries we have littoral states in these seas, and will pave the way for the rapid development and development of our country in the center of the vast Mediterranean basin.

“The development in our economic structure increases the needs of maritime transportation vehicles every day. Some of the newly ordered ships will arrive next spring. However, these are not in sufficient quantity and proportion to meet the volume of need seen today. It is necessary to build new ships and especially to put the old shipyard into operation as a center for both repair and new construction for our merchant fleet (applause). In these days, a bill will come to the Supreme Assembly about aquaculture and the Sea Bank. I have no doubt that the subject will be of great interest to you. Friends! Turkey, which is in the most beautiful geographical situation and surrounded by the sea on three sides; With its industry, trade and sports, it is capable of raising the most advanced maritime nation. We must know how to take advantage of this ability; We should think of maritime as the great national ideal of the Turks and we should achieve it in a short time (live the voices, applause)”. November 1, 1937, as the fifth term opens its third year of assembly.

In line with the goal shown to us by the Great Atatürk, it should be our priority to act with the vision of leadership that unites the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia in the Mediterranean basin, where we are located in the center of the Mediterranean basin, rather than being a wing country of the Atlantic Ocean bloc, which we are not a riparian country.

In Turkey’s foreign relations dictionary, the concept of “the first target Mediterranean” has fallen off the agenda and the concept of the eastern Mediterranean is constantly used instead. Thus, the integrity of the Mediterranean is lost in the minds. The use of the Mediterranean Union is not encountered in any way. While the concept of the great Middle East is constantly used as a translation concept in our dictionary, the concept of the great Mediterranean is unfortunately not in use at all. However, the phenomenon that exists in the background of our goal of a two-part great Mediterranean is the fact that the main target of the Turks’ civilization journeys from Turkestan and Khorasan to the west is the Mediterranean, as expressed by our founder Atatürk.