During his election campaign, Trump’s messages regarding Islam prompted a backlash and were interpreted as if he would oppose the Islamic world in particular.
By ADNAN OKTARTHE PINK Mosque is triumph of decorative religious art in stone, plaster, tile, stained glass, wood and textile, in Shiraz.(photo credit: PAUL ROSS)
The fact that the world is always governed by certain power groups is no longer a mystery. These power groups are comprised of the administrators of countries, banks, NGOs and many other globally influential institutions. The elected leaders of some countries are under the influence of such deep power groups. The people of these countries may have cast their votes democratically, but in fact they have been largely influenced by propaganda, especially through the mainstream media. Therefore, the election of a leader who is not supported by the mainstream media and familiar faces in the press always carries an element of surprise.That is what’s happening in the US right now. Despite the media and the propaganda, President Donald Trump has managed to become president in the face of the opposing strong power groups, think tanks, lobbies and NGOs. This situation should be evaluated carefully with regard to the Islamic world, the Middle East and Israel.During his election campaign, Trump’s messages regarding Islam prompted a backlash and were interpreted as if he would oppose the Islamic world in particular. However, what the Islamic community should do is examine Trump’s words carefully and take a close look at his subsequent actions. In reality, Trump’s presidency is a very positive development for the Islamic world.The most important reason for this is that Trump is independent of the deep and hidden power groups that we have known for years and which have grown accustomed to running the world. This will prevent him from making decisions of the kind we are accustomed to seeing in world affairs. This fact will direct him to make unique and constructive decisions regarding the Middle East and to seek different ways to achieve what US administrations couldn’t achieve before.A president promising to eradicate radical terrorism in his inaugural speech may seem frightening to some in the Islamic world. Trump, however, voiced the distinction between the Muslims and the radicals throughout his campaign; he accepted it in theory, but in practice he said it was hard to tell. He insisted that “the radicals do not like the United States” and expressed his concern about this. He is of course right to be worried, because radicalism is a danger and a threat to not only for the US or for the West, but also for the whole Islamic world, since radicalism is a totally different ideology from Islam.Islamic countries’ perspective on Trump should be adjusted accordingly. By showing its understanding of friendship and brotherhood, the Islamic world must lift this fear that has settled on Trump, the US and the Western world. Various Islamic countries, especially Turkey, should support Trump with a warm and rational friendship policy, extend their help to Trump and offer to fight against radicalism together. A US president who is not guided by the dark masterminds can easily adapt to a rational, wise and scientific policy for the Middle East. He can understand that the solution cannot be achieved by bombs, and that a rational ideological study must be conducted urgently.This is important because the deep power groups that desire to break up Middle East and draw various new maps for the region believe that this can only be achieved by bombs. Therefore, the Middle East policies of US presidents have not been any different from each other until now, and the statement “we will withdraw from the Middle East” has never been fulfilled.The statistics of former US president Barack Obama’s term are concerning in this respect: during Obama’s presidency, in 2016 alone three bombs were launched every hour. That means 72 bombs a day and 504 bombs a week. Just last year, 26,172 total bombs were dropped. These bombs targeted seven countries.Syria and Iraq were at the top of the list: 93% of the bombs were dropped on these countries. Given these numbers, it is almost impossible to determine where the bombs hit and how many civilians lost their lives.These bombings are a product of a plan and we are constantly presented with the maps of a fragmented Middle East as a part of this plan. The update of the first map of a fragmented Middle East, drawn by the British historian Bernard Lewis after the Cold War, was made in 2006 by US intelligence officer Lt.-Col. Ralph Peters. Then, in January 2008, with Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in The Atlantic monthly magazine and a report by Kenneth Katzman presented to Congress on September 25, 2008, two new maps appeared. To date, many different “New Middle East Maps” were published in The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the BBC, The New York Times, Pakistan Defense, The Washington Post, Reuters and The Huffington Post.
Everyone now knows that a fragmented Middle East means a chain of disasters, not just for the countries of the region, but for the whole world. For this reason, it is especially important that the countries of the Middle East do not allow the appearance of a bombed and disintegrating Middle East.A solution to this problem is possible if the new President of the United States determines this strategy in conjunction with the Middle Eastern countries.This union should include Israel too, along with the Islamic countries of the Middle East. It is clear that Israel has not received the support it expected during Obama’s presidency.It was highly unlikely for Obama, who was supported by communist parties and Marxist organizations during his election campaigns and who has a socialist background, to support anti-communist Israel.Although he supported Israel in appearance, he has never been seen as a true friend by the Israeli government and people. Trump is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air for Israel in this sense.It is among our most important expectations that Trump will especially strengthen the relations between Turkey and Israel and enable these two countries to act in conjunction with the US and Russia regarding the solution for the Middle East. As we have mentioned many times, the issue of Syria is a matter that particularly demands for the alliance of the countries of the region.Although the Astana talks are a very important step for this, involvement of Israel and our NATO ally America will provide a stronger step toward a solution on the issue of Syria. In this regard, indeed, Trump’s attitude toward the PKK structure on Syrian soil will also be instrumental. Trump has already mentioned his admiration of Kurds; we are on the same page in this regard.However, he added that he considers Turkey an ally regarding the Syrian issue as well.Therefore, Trump appears to be giving ear to Turkey’s warnings that the Stalinist PKK, under the name of PYD, is restructuring in Syria, and that there should be a distinction between them and the Kurds. Hopefully Trump can accomplish what Obama could not, and make a distinction between the terrorist organization in Syrian territory and our Kurdish brothers.Again we hope that Trump’s arrival will pave the way for new and beautiful developments for the Islamic community, Israel and the entire Middle East. Hopefully, the struggle against radicalism can now be achieved by scientific methods. Not by bombs, but by challenging ideology. Not by killing people, but by eradicating false ideas. We hope that the American people with their American dream, democracy, freedom and joy that we missed and love come back. May God help Trump and all the good people in the world.The writer is a Turkish Muslim TV commentator who has authored more than 300 books in 73 languages on political, faith-related and scientific topics.