Victory parade of the defeated

August 30 marks Victory Day or Armed Forces Day in Turkey. It is, this year, preceded by a week of celebrations also commemorating the victory of the Seljuk Turks over the Byzantines, an opportunity for president Erdoğan to present himself as heir and nation builder. Whether the Turkish people buy this illusion of grandeur I can’t say, but to the outside world the whole event is rather ironic.

The celebrations kicked off with a navy parade. This is the same navy which can’t muster the kind of courage shown by the various Flotilla-to-Gaza crews trying to break the siege on the people of Gaza and deliver food and medicines. The very Gaza whose siege was once broken by Salahuddin and which prospered under Ottoman rule. When the first Flotilla after October 7, 2023 tried to leave port from Istanbul, obstructed by Turkish authorities and eventually compelled to depart from a different country, I called for Turkey to send a navy escort which, if attacked, would be able to call on the USA and other NATO members to come to their rescue against non-NATO Israel. Not that they would, but it would expose how useless Turkey’s NATO membership is in reality. About as useless as their navy, in fact. If I were to command the Turkish navy, I would hang my head in shame, not lead a victory parade! The same can be said about the air force and the army, equally proud of their existence but useless where needed. The Seljuk or Ottoman rulers would have hung their commanders for cowardice or treason.

Of course, the armed forces have the excuse that the ultimate decision concerning their deployment rests with the government and is a matter of political will, although Turkey has a long history of military coups when the army command did not agree with the direction of the political elite. Which brings us back to the president who, full of strong words and weak in action, is less a Salahuddin or Seljuk warrior and more like the big bad wolf who huffs and puffs but can’t blow little piggy’s house down, ending up in a pot of boiling water instead.

When the best show of strength a proud nation can muster is its first lady writing a letter to the American first lady, asking her to write a letter to the Israeli prime minister, I guess it illustrates the impotence of the strongman at the helm. Or his treasonous complicity with the enemy. It is telling in this touching story sold to the world’s news agencies, that neither lady seems to be able to have any influence over their own husband, and Emine Erdoğan doesn’t even seem to have to courage to write to the first lady of Israel or Netanyahu directly, she is in need of the emotional support of Melina Trump ( Melanija Knavs, that one immigrant Trump is happy to show off). Meanwhile Emine’s husband and son continue trading with Israel, supplying them with, amongst other things, construction materials, war materials and electricity, thus helping to keep the siege on Gaza in place.

The political will, clearly absent in spite of the rhetoric, does, of course, go back to the people. Whilst most rulers of Muslim countries oppress their own people and do so with the active support of the armed forces, they nonetheless cannot do so long-term without the acquiescence of their people who must look beyond the words of outrage and at the reality of their elected or unelected leaders: puppets of a Zionist world oligarchy in which the American Empire takes the lead. Not until Muslims around the world are troubled and outraged sufficiently by the suffering of their brothers and sisters in Palestine will the fate of Palestinians and their own fate change for the better. America keeps sending Zionist Jews, such as Witkoff and Barack, as envoys to Muslim countries, urging them to surrender and disarm. The only loud response should be that there can be no peace in the region, until Israel is forced to disarm instead.

As the leader of Ansarullah in Yemen noted in one of his addresses prior to the regular million-man march in support of Palestine: “We convey to the entire Islamic Ummah a message from one of the Palestinian mujahidin during the execution of the Khan Younis operation, in which he said: ‘We say to the entire Ummah that we ourselves are an argument against you, and you have no argument. May Allah not forgive those who are complacent, and may He not forgive those who are complicit. Allah left Gaza alone, but Allah Himself is sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of All Affairs.’

The message of the Khan Younis operation mujahid is an expression of the feelings of every mujahid throughout the Gaza Strip. The message of the Khan Younis operation mujahid expresses the feelings of every fighter and civilian in Gaza regarding the inaction of this Ummah of two billion Muslims.

The inaction of the Ummah of two billion Muslims is shameful, and Allah will not forgive the Ummah for its inaction, especially considering its strength, numbers, equipment and capabilities. The state of the Ummah is negative beyond words, and we must be frank after all this time and state the revelation of the facts. The situation is indeed even more than a matter of inaction... It is a betrayal of Islam."