İlnur Çevik penned an article on Turkish foreign policy favour of the underdogs and the underprivileged. He tried to explain in his column entitled 'Turks remain ray of hope for the oppressed' why Turkish government helps the oppressed of the world. He emphasized that Turks under Erdoğan have made it their policy to stand up for the oppressed irrespective of where they are, who they are and what they are.
Here are full text of article written by Daily Sabah writer İlnur Çevik:
This is the holy season of hajj as we celebrate Eid al-Adha, the religious festivities culminating in the great Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
This is the time when people of all colors, races, languages and ethnicities mingle at Arafat near Mecca and pray together as a united mass. It is a show of unmatched unity and solidarity of more than 2 million people assembled in a desert location to praise the Almighty. There the people are equal, all differences are erased and they stand side by side forming ranks before God to show His greatness.
This is what motivates Turkey to stand by the oppressed of the world, to help the underdogs and the underprivileged.
That is why Turkey has gone out of its way to stand up to the atrocities in Arakan, Myanmar. Turkey is now vocally calling on the international community to rise to the occasion and halt the bloodbath where at least 2,000 Muslims in the region have been butchered at the hands of the Myanmar army seeking revenge for an attack by insurgents on a military outpost that killed half a dozen soldiers.
Arakan has been boiling with hatred against Muslims for years. Buddhists have been butchering Muslims in the thousands as the world simply looks on. The incidents reached a peak in 2010 when thousands of Muslims were again massacred by the Buddhists who were unfortunately encouraged by monks. Turkey again raised its voice but to no avail. Turkey sent aid and relief to the Muslims, First Lady Emine Erdoğan whose husband Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was then prime minister, and then Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu led a Turkish delegation to Arakan to embrace the victims of the massacres under very dangerous conditions.
Erdoğan is currently calling on several world leaders to draw attention to Arakan and he will have talked to two dozen leaders by next Tuesday when the holy holiday season ends. He will also be raising this issue at the United Nations General Assembly meetings later next month.
So Turkey remains the only country making a fuss over Arakan, thousands of kilometers away from our country. Why?
Simply because Turks under Erdoğan have made it their policy to stand up for the oppressed irrespective of where they are, who they are and what they are.
That is why Turkey has opened its gates wide open to the Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country, so much so that 3 million Syrians have found refuge under the best conditions all over the country. Turkey until now has spent more than $30 billion over a five-year period for the Syrian migrants.
Turkey has become the second leading country in the world to provide aid to developing countries after the United States.
All these have made Turkey a ray of hope for all the oppressed people of the world including the Muslims who have been hit worst by global violence.
That is why it seems the leading world powers are unhappy and do not want Turkey to become the champion of the oppressed. That is why they are doing everything in their power to stall Turkey through violence, coups and deceit. What a great shame.
Yet, Turks are defying all the odds and have overcome the obstacles set up by the Western powers and is marching ahead. Happy holidays everyone!
