The Iranian deputies’ bitter criticisms are primarily of Turkey’s stance on the Syrian civil war, now ongoing for more than two years and which has been a problem for its neighboring countries ever since it began.
Turkey became involved in the Syrian crisis by taking sides with the rebels who have been fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey now faces allegations of providing financial assistance, training and weapons to the insurgents in Syria. Turkey also hosted most of the meetings of the main Syrian opposition National Coalition.
The latest such accusatory statement was made by Iranian lawmaker Hojattollah Souri, who maintained on June 17 that Turkey aids and abets the terrorists fighting against Assad to help Western countries’ and Arab states’ plans to fuel sectarian violence in Syria. In an interview with ICANA, the Iranian deputy also said that Turkey is currently the main hub for exporting terrorism to Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu criticized Syria for using Iranian fighters and Hezbollah members against its own nation in his speech at the Friends of Syria meeting in late June in Doha, Qatar.
Souri is not alone in his theory about Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian conflict, as Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also thinks that Ankara is trying to fuel sectarian conflict in Syria. In response to the allegations made by Davutoğlu against Iran and Hezbollah, Larijani stated on May 26 that Turkey shouldn’t blame Iran and Hezbollah for its wrong policies in Syria, adding, “Fanning the flames of war and the dispatching of arms to Syria will in no way help to improve conditions in the country.”
The statements of Iranian lawmakers turn into gross slander from time to time. The chairman of Iran’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, accused Turkey of being the “main responsible party for the bloody war,” saying on May 13, “Turkey’s policies in Syria should be regarded as the main reason behind the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in the country.”
While usually accused of helping armed units fighting in Syria, there are also bitter remarks made in Iran’s parliament that target Turkey’s relations with the West. According to ICANA’s reports, Iran’s Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Vahid Ahmadi, leaving diplomatic rhetoric aside, stated on April 4, “Countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have turned into puppets of the West in the region and overtly interfere in Syria’s affairs.”
Iranian politicians assume Turkey to be a country looking to further its own interests in Syria. According to ICANA, on Feb. 16, Iranian lawmaker Mousa Qazanfarabadi also alleged that Ankara is eyeing temporary gains, but that in the long term the Turkish government will lose its credibility in the region.
Iran’s members of parliament also found Turkey behind the unrest in Iraq. Iraq has witnessed an outbreak of many ethno-religious conflicts in the last year but deadly attacks increased during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as the death toll is more than 600 in July alone, according to The Associated Press.
Parliamentarian Mohammad Saleh Jokar said on Jan. 15 that Turkey was one of the countries that was responsible for violence in Iraq and underlined that Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States back crisis-mongering in the Kurdish region. The Gezi Park protests that began in İstanbul in late May over the municipality’s plan to demolish the park and turned into nationwide protests also became an issue in the Iranian parliament. Erdoğan’s stance against protesters was criticized by Iranian legislators. It was said that the Turkish prime minister fueled the unrest by insulting the protesters, such as calling them riff-raff and saying that the protesters were arm-in-arm with terrorism.
In an interview with ICANA on July 7, Iranian deputy Ebrahim Aqamohammadi said he sees the Gezi Park protests as a result of the public will and that Erdoğan should stop using force against the protesters but apologize to the Turkish nation for his failure to respond to public demands. “The Turkish prime minister’s failure to revive the Ottoman Empire based on Islamism has pushed him to racism and Pan-Turkism,” he added, indicating that the protests began because of Erdoğan’s unsuccessful and reactionary plans.
Some Iranian deputies believe that Erdoğan’s statements on Syria are designed to support his campaign in the coming elections. In 2014 three elections — for the president, the prime minister and local representatives — will be held in Turkey and may change the Turkish government from top to bottom. Drawing attention to the importance of the elections for Erdoğan, the head of the Iranian parliament’s Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, asserted that elections are forthcoming in Turkey and that Erdoğan’s remarks have merely partisan and campaign qualities in his speech to parliament on Oct. 13, 2012.
Missile defense system
Iranian deputies’ criticisms primarily started over the installation of the NATO radar site in the eastern province of Malatya and gained strength with NATO’s deployment of Patriot missiles, designed to counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft to the southern border with Syria. Iranian politicians’ concerns over the presence of foreign forces in the region which may bring further conflict to the Middle East led to their firm position against Ankara.
NATO’s early warning missile defense system in Turkey’s Malatya province, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Syrian border, became operational at the beginning of 2012. The radar site in Turkey irritated Iranian politicians and fueled scores of conspiracy theories. Boroujerdi maintained that NATO’s plan to establish a radar system in Malatya helps the Israeli regime’s surveillance of the Middle East.
“NATO’s missile radar system in Turkey is in fact the eye of Israel in the region and this will not help the security of Turkey or regional countries. It is set to cause insecurity,” said Boroujerdi on Nov. 27, 2011.
After the deployment of NATO’s Patriot missiles in January 2013, amid growing concerns over the missiles, parliament member Seyyed Baqer Hosseini showed his displeasure with the Western presence in the region and blamed Turkey for its request for missiles in comments on Nov. 24, 2012: “It is unacceptable for NATO to get directly involved in Syria by deploying its missiles along this country’s border [with Turkey]. Therefore, Turkey’s request in this regard should certainly be condemned.”
A statement that could be perceived as a threat came from Boroujerdi. In his speech to parliament on Dec. 22, 2012, he said, “These missiles will not help provide security for Turkey because all the neighbors of Turkey are discontented with the deployment of these missiles.”
Disturbed by Turkey’s affiliations with Western countries, Iranian deputies look at every issue in Turkey with the perspective of possible threats from the West. Seyyed Ahmadreza Dastgheib, another Iranian member of parliament, asserted that Turkey is being used by Western countries to help cement their influence in the region and Western countries are trying to find an opportunity to interfere in the internal policies of Turkey.
“By establishing a base in Turkey, NATO can easily interfere in the internal political equations of the country and, as an undercover force, align Turkey’s policies with its own interests,” he said on Dec. 8, 2012.
Iranian deputies also put imprisoned journalists on their agenda. Pointing out the lack of freedom of expression in Turkey, Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Ali Esfanani stated on Dec. 8, 2012, that a Turkish journalist who criticized the government cannot be judged as a terrorist and called on Ankara to save democracy.
Turkey tops the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) list of imprisoned journalists, with 49 journalists in jail as of Dec. 1, 2012. The situation of jailed journalists in this country has been raised in every international arena. However, the Turkish government insists that those who are in jail were arrested because of terrorism activities.
Iran closely follows its neighbor with 45 journalists in prison according to the CPJ’s 2012 data.
Souce Today Zaman