Turkey has been experiencing a clear identity crisis in recent decades, as it has not succeeded in organically attaching to its dear Western dream, to join the European Union after it was just around the corner from this membership had it not been for the objection of some of the main member States of the Union, nor has it been able to fuse again in its historical Islamic environment.
Dr. Salem Al-Ketbi says: "Rather, it has become more isolated and rejected within the context of this environment because of the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads a party said to have an Islamic reference, while it has par excellence succeeded - especially in recent years and until now - in building high barriers between Turkey and Islamic countries and peoples!"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is known for his populist approach, and for his mastery of crises to pert attention from internal problems and crises.
The decision to transform the Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque has brilliantly reflected this populist approach that aims to mobilize the voting bloc supporting the Justice and Development Party behind Erdogan again after he lost much of his popularity due to his deadly military interventions in Syria and Libya and the economic catastrophes caused by his policies that made the Turkish people face a sharp deterioration in living standards.
This was reflected in the reactions of the majority of Turks towards the policies of their president via the social media describing Erdogan policies as “a danger to the nation!”
Certainly, such emotional decisions will not place Turkey as the leader of the Islamic world and will not contribute to making Erdogan a leader for Muslims and a first advocate of the Islamic religion, as he believes.
Indeed, the vast majority of Muslims are aware of the truth of the motives of such decisions with political dimensions that try to use religion to achieve strategic interests for inpiduals, organizations, and parties.
The decision itself represents a Turkish declaration or official recognition of closing the door to discussions on Turkey's relations with the European Union, so the debate is no longer useful in light of Erdogan's policies that are completely hostile to the countries of the Union and its interests.
Erdogan will certainly not succeed in restoring the glory of the Ottoman Sultanate, thus he puts the Turkish people in a state of hostility and discontinuity with the present, which Turkish politicians have placed a heavy stake in rebuilding it by reconnecting Turkey with its historical, cultural and Islamic depth; where the theory of “zero problems” has fallen and instead of it has emerged in recent years the “zero relations” theory with the regional countries surrounding all Turkey, except for the ambiguous and cautious relations with the Iranian mullahs’ regime, and some other countries that do not influence their regional surroundings!
Of course, neither Erdogan nor any other person can bring back the Ottoman legacy. History cannot step into the same river twice, nor does it repeat itself in such cases. Neither the world is the same nor Turkey itself is the Sultanate of its time, and therefore all that the Turkish president does is nothing but a waste of the resources and interests of the Turkish State and people in mock struggles and absurd adventures that will yield nothing in return!
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Turkey's Hagia Sophia Museum[/caption]
Turkey cannot, in light of its current reality, address the crisis of belonging and identity it suffers from. It needs to build conciliatory policies and a realistic vision in which to take into account strategic data and in which the Turkish State dissociates itself from the narrow interests of ideological organizations the historical movement of a country with the weight and status of Turkey cannot depend on.
So the narrow partisan interests must be broken down, as it appears in the organic ideological link between the ruling Justice and Development Party on the one hand and the Muslim Brotherhood on the other hand.
Also, Turkish national interests must be a top priority to build an inclusive national vision that preserves Turkey's role and position away from inpidual trends as it is the case with Erdogan.
Turkey, which is searching for its roots, essence, identity, and itself since the end of the First World War, is still confused, and there is no doubt that the issue of Hagia Sophia reopens the file of the Turkish identity with all its suffering and pain again.
Indeed, the Turkish strategic depth as called by its Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu is the essence of this crisis.
It instilled in the Turkish political awareness the idea that it is difficult to confine Turkey within its geographical environment, and considered that its colonial heritage remains an integral part of its foreign strategy, meaning that it must move abroad within the limits of this colonial legacy so long as Turkish interests call for it! This is what explains Turkey’s current expansionist interventions in Syria and Libya, and these interventions brought about the curse of the Islamic world.
This narrow vision is a common factor that drives the policies of the Justice and Development Party as a whole, not only President Erdogan.
The main problem lies in the convictions and thought trends of this party, which wants to change the features and pillars of Turkish identity, settled since the twenties of the last century, and the decision of Hagia Sophia came within the framework of this approach that seeks to possess the elements of leadership in the Islamic world in search for a lost identity!
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