Recently, while watching another match as important as last night’s Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray derby, a brilliant goal scored on the field made me reflect deeply.
The team that entered the field with the ambition to win must have based its strategy on injuring the opposing team’s top scorer and thus eliminating the greatest threat. The opportunity seemed close at hand. The striker had torn apart the opposing defense and approached the goal. The goalkeeper saw this as his chance and charged at the striker with the intent to injure.
What disrupted the game was the striker’s intelligence. He paused and lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper.
He both scored and disrupted the opposing team’s game plan.
Just as games are set up and disrupted between states…
[By the way, domestic politics work the same way…]
Israel as a ‘player’
To answer the question, “How is the ‘game’ played on the international stage?” it’s enough to look at Israel’s latest technological device attacks that turned Lebanon into hell.
Years ago, the bombing capabilities of some everyday devices were discovered, and anticipating their future use as weapons, fake workplaces were set up in several countries. Preparations began two years in advance…
When the Gaza conflict erupted and Hezbollah’s missiles began to target settlements in northern Lebanon, Israel, ignoring international law, awakened its sleeper cells.
Meanwhile, they may have also played a role in circulating the idea, “Let’s use only pagers and radios for communication.”
Israel usually doesn’t reveal that it plays such ‘games’; it probably wanted this time to imply that it has other ‘toys’ at its disposal.
[There are many works on how the U.S. played this game in the pre-technology era. I especially recommend the fairly old book The Game of Nations by CIA agent Miles Copeland.]
Turkey’s BRICS Membership
The seriousness of Turkey’s intention to join BRICS, which I initially thought was a joke, gained weight with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s statements. If the intention is realized, Turkey will abandon many of the Western institutions it has partnered with and join the bloc led by Russia and China as the ninth member…
When I first heard about it from Russian spokespeople, I thought it might be a ‘game’.
It seems that it was not a joke, the intention is serious.
Turkey has had issues with the West for many years. Not only has it not received the attention it expected, but at one point (2010-2012), it even faced the threat of being expelled from the Council of Europe, where a Turkish MP—Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu—was once elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The relationship aimed at full membership with the European Union (EU) has turned into reprimands. The European Parliament, where nearly all members once enthusiastically voted ‘Yes’ to Turkey’s EU membership, is now issuing a series of unfavorable reports…
Let’s examine Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s words, which made me realize the seriousness of the BRICS membership intention:
This statement: “Had our economic integration with the European Union culminated in membership, we might not be in search of alternatives in many areas.”
And this: “Given the stagnation in relations with the European Union, it’s normal for us to explore economic alternatives.”
I probably don’t need to remind you of the zigzagging relationship with the distant neighbor, America.
At one point, Turkey drew the line and began considering Moscow as a closer ally than Washington. Purchasing the S-400 defense system, which still sits in storage despite the huge sum paid, was part of that challenge.
If I initially thought Turkey’s intention to join BRICS was a joke, it was because I believed that the costly game played with the S-400 had not yielded the desired results.
The game Turkey is trying to play is easily detected and ignored by its counterparts.
Why does Turkey need such games?
It’s quite clear: Since 2014, the desire to solidify the power shift that peaked with the system change brought by the 2017 referendum has been growing.
It’s not easy to maintain traditional alliances with the new system.
This is why every step faces issues…
However, Turkey wouldn’t struggle within the BRICS bloc. Two countries – Russia and China – which are slightly worse off than Turkey in terms of rights and freedoms, are founding members of BRICS.
The only problem is this: Turkey’s economy is closely tied to its traditional foreign policy.
Almost half of our exports go to Western countries. Public institutions and the private sector are in contact with their counterparts in Europe and America.
Turkey’s maneuverability would significantly decrease if it turns away from the EU and NATO to align with BRICS.
Just as the game set with the S-400 didn’t work out and led to the loss of Turkey’s position in the F-35 project, the jets not given to us were redirected by the U.S. to Israel and Greece.
If a game is to be set, it must be a winning move like the one made by the striker in the match I recently watched, who quickly recognized the opponent’s intentions and acted accordingly.
Could we be falling into the West’s game?
Could we be subjected to a game by the West regarding Turkey?
By trying to break the game, could we be forced into an alliance with BRICS—to a marriage we only intended to flirt with the counterpart—due to the West’s game?
A poorer Turkey that has lost its human capital to other countries and is weakened might suit the West better…
Could they be pushing us towards BRICS?
Hakan Fidan, who is well-read and has intelligence experience, should also consider this possibility.
ΩΩΩΩ
[The translation of the article is by ChatGPT with some minor modifications.]
