Putin targets Washington’s Achilles Heel
By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan may go down in history as the pair which gave the final blow to American hegemony and western domination of the world. A Russia-Turkey axis can completely change the balance of power in the world.
By forming the Russia-China alliance, Putin has already considerably weakened the western alliance. By snatching Turkey, the most important European member and the Eastern flank of NATO, he may make NATO completely toothless and irrelevant.
This was Erdogan’s first visit since the coup of July 15, 2016. Relations with the West have cooled down since the coup. On the other hand, relations with Russia, which went downhill after the shooting down of a Russian jet on the Syrian border last November, and which already started improving when he apologized to Russia in June, have received a big boost after the coup.
Things started changing when the new Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, replaced Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had coined the slogan “Zero problems with neighbors” after the uprising in the Arab countries in the so-called Arab Spring. Binali Yildirim replaced the policy of Zero problems with a new policy called “Increase the number of friends and decrease the number of enemies.”
An apology to Russia, which Putin considered politically sufficient, was the result of this new policy.
Turkey and Russia found confluence on several issues. Turkey needed Russia’s petroleum elements. It also needed access to the Russian market for its vegetables and fruit. Turkey also needs Russian tourists for its tourism industry. Russia needs Turkey’s energy market and its territory to transfer energy supply to Europe. Russia was building a stream gas pipeline and nuclear power plants in Turkey. Russia offered package tours of Turkey to its citizens.
The two countries also want to jointly control access to the Black Sea and want stability in the Black Sea. In 1936, they signed an agreement on access to the Black Sea, called the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits. Erdogan wants to open a new page in relations with Russia and he has called Putin his friend.
After their meeting in Saint Petersburg, they have agreed that the trade sanctions imposed by Russia would be phased out step-by-step. These trade sanctions really hurt the trade between the two countries. The trade this year is 60.5% less than last year’s. They will go back to the level of cooperation before the relations soured when Turkey shot down the Russian Su-24 jet over the Syrian border.
Erdogan said that Putin’s call after the coup meant a lot to him psychologically. Two major joint energy products on hold would be restarted: the Turk stream gas pipeline across the Black Sea and the Akkuyu nuclear plant being built by Russia’s Rosatom in Turkey.
Turkey has accused American intelligence agencies, the CIA and the FBI, for inciting the coup. Turkey has demanded to extradite the Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for starting the coup. However, America so far has refused to extradite him.
America and the West have further angered Turkey by criticizing it for the crackdown on the coup suspects. Thousands of public sector workers were suspended or dismissed with many having their passports cancelled. About 18,000 people have been detained or arrested. There has been a massive reshuffle of the military.
Russia, on the other hand, has not only refrained from criticizing Turkey, it has sympathized and shown support. Putin sees this as a great opportunity to win Turkey from the West and make a Moscow-Ankara axis.
The situation in Turkey reminds me of the Greek tragedy of the Trojan War. Many historians believe that Troy is modern Turkey. Achilles, the celebrated Greek warrior, only heard part of the prophecy that Hector will be killed by him. However, the complete prophecy was that Achilles will be killed soon after. When Achilles killed Hector the Prince of Troy and a famous warrior, he beat his chest and dragged Hector’s body behind his chariot to show his victory.
However, Paris, Hector’s younger brother, killed Achilles by shooting an arrow through his heel. The heel was his only vulnerable body part.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, America beat its chest in victory. However, America did not realize at that time that the collapse of the Soviet Union would ultimately lead to its own collapse. America and the Soviet Union together were able to control the world. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, America was unable to control the whole world.
Eurasia is America’s Achilles heel. It is a geographical fact that America is not a part of Eurasia. The history of thousands of years proves that whoever controlled Eurasia also controlled the world. Russia and Turkey belong to Eurasia, while America is not physically connected to this landmass. This is the American weak spot, the Achilles heel of America.
Putin has been working on bringing Eurasia together against America. First, he made up with China, and then he started organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation and the Eurasian Union. Now, he has brought Russia and Turkey together. He has also called Iran to join him.
It is interesting that he has brought Turkey, a leading Sunni Muslim country, to his camp. At the same time he is bringing Iran, the leading Shia country, to his fold. Putin has proved that he is the statesman of the world. America or any other western country does not have a leader to match his skill.
America was ready to celebrate a victory in the Olympics by marginalizing Russia there. Putin has scored a much bigger victory by winning over Turkey.
Sawraj Singh M.D. F.I.C.S.
Chairman, Washington State Network for Human Rights
Chairman, Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice
