Turkey and the Middle East at the Crossroads
March 7th (1999) Seminars (London, UK)
Seventy-five years ago the foundations of modern Turkey and
Middle East were forged. On 3 March, 1924, the Caliphate based
in Istanbul was formally abolished, eradicating any way back
from the Republic to which Ankara had committed herself to.
Subsequently, all claims to authority of the former Islamic State
over the various regions of the middle east; Hijaz, Egypt,
Ash-sham etc were also formally dissolved. The beginning of a
great new era was declared. Indeed, this dramatic transition did
lead to a new era. However today, intellectuals and politicians
the world over are questioning its greatness.
Far from the progress which was anticipated, Turkey has
declined horribly from her former glory. Time has shown that
the Republic of Ankara was unable to match that which the
Khilafah achieved. Today, Ankara knocks with nervous
trepidation at the doors of European Economic Union. Yet with
her economy in debt-ridden ruin, she is scorned upon as a
beggar to a banquet. Yet, as the heart of the Khilafah, Europe
was once for many centuries in the shadow of her wealth. She
was the envy of the entire world as the furnaces of her industry
warmed a vast territory - Dar ul-Islam - which embraced lands
from Spain through the Middle East to India and Asia. Today,
Turkish territory is threatened by attrition in the face of
challenges from Greek expansionism and Kurdish nationalism.
Yet, Istanbul once stood in command of a military which ever
expanded her territories, in a day when even Europe began to
succumb to her authority. The Khilafah once resolutely
maintained the integrity of these Islamic Lands. Lands that were
carved into a myriad of ineffectual regimes as per the
Sykes-Picot (British-French) agreement of 1916 to carve between
them the spoils of WWI . Lands populated by a people craving a
semblance of prior unity and strength.
In a similar fashion the fate of the Middle East has been no more
successful than that of Turkey. The separation of Islam from
temporal matters and the embracing of nationalism and
capitalism has been an utter failure on every imaginable level.
The vision of the Arab nationalists to build a strong independent
community of Arab countries, which would not depend on the
west, could not have been more unfulfilled. Militarily, Palestine
has been surrendered to the Jews and remains firmly under their
control while Iraq remains violently emaciated by the US.
Economically, the failures in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and most
recently Saudi Arabia prove that the existing regimes are
astonishingly incompetent in the management of their people's
affairs. Further it proves that even the oil producing nations in
the Middle East are not exempt from suffering and eventual
demise. Politically, Arab Unity under secularism has been wholly
ineffective and remains an unrealised, unworkable, romantic
philosophy, making it difficult to describe the current regimes as
little more than caretakers or janitors for the Europeans and
Americans. All of this is in stark contrast to the situation when all
of these countries were united under the ideological bond of
Islam with the political leadership, the Khilafah, based solely on
the Islamic Aqeedah and also in harmony with the deep rooted
Islamic sentiments of the Muslim population. During the era of
the Islamic state the Muslims defended their lands heroically,
expanded their boundaries of the Khilafah through Jihad,
propagated Islam to non-Muslims through challenging their false
beliefs and concepts intellectually, Ruled exclusively by what
Allah Ta'ala has revealed, extended their hands to pledge
allegiance (bayah) to one Khaleefah for all the Muslims globally,
obeyed him and fought under his leadership in the way of Allah
until the Muslims were the undisputed leading nation in the
world, both respected and feared by the disbelievers.
Hence all over the Islamic Lands, not just Turkey and the Middle
East, a political debate has raged which few have ignored.
Turkish secularists, Arab nationalists, Islamists and Islamic
revivalists all proffer opinions as regards to the relative merits of
the Khilafah and the Republic. Currently we are offered a
plethora of solutions and directions to assist us out of our current
declined situation; European integration, democratisation,
economic reform, technological & military advancement, human
rights, population control, nationalism, religious
tolerance.unification of Muslim lands under a single Islamic
Khilafah state Can Arabs and Turks ever unify politically under
a single ruler?. Members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir have furnished an
opportunity to participate in this all important debate. They aim
to show that what once was, can be again. They aim to put
forward a strong case for Islam and the re-establishment of the
Khilafah State, as the only means to break the cycle of failure, to
revive the region and to restore this dignified Ummah to its
rightful place.
Turkey and the Middle East are indeed at a crossroads, our
future depends on the direction we now take.
"And obey Allah and his Messenger and do not dispute
amongst yourselves, lest you lose heart and your power depart
and be patient and persevering for Allah is with those who
persevere patiently" [Surah Anfaal: 46]
"Turkey and the Middle East at the Crossroads"
A series of short seminars to be delivered by members of Hizb
ut-Tahrir for Internet broadcast (audio and video) on
www.khilafah.com
Sunday 7 March 1999, from 14.00hrs (GMT) Those wishing to
attend the event in person in London, UK - (on the day) please
e-mail a request for tickets to Seminar Tickets to naghda@hotmail.com
