What are US bases and ships doing in Türkiye?

On Sunday, October 15, 2023, General Secretary of the Vatan Party Özgür Bursalı held a press conference at the Party’s Headquarters in response to President Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements against the United States.

SUMMARY:

– As the Vatan Party, we ask our President: What are the US and NATO doing in Incirlik? What are the US and Israel doing in Kürecik? What was the US aircraft carrier doing off the coast of Antalya a month ago? What were Selçuk Bayraktars doing with the US generals on the US aircraft carrier anchored in Antalya, which you said would commit massacres in Gaza today? Let’s not look for answers far away.

– In his last speech, the President stated that “America’s activities pose an extraordinary threat to Türkiye’s national security”. The policy of balance is bankrupt. After this statement, Türkiye can no longer pursue a policy that puts its security in the fire and creates insecurity and discredit in the countries of the region.

– From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from Gaza to the Sea of Oman, we are facing the US-Israel on a single front. Establishing a holistic strategy on this single front is an inevitable necessity for ensuring our own security and defending the Palestinian cause. All the countries facing the US-Israeli threat on the holistic front are Türkiye’s accumulation of alliances. There is no way to go with words, condemnations from the rostrums, questions and reproaches.

– We are in a historical decision period. After 2014, Türkiye has started to break the chains of the Atlantic and will choose its place in the new world, in the leading positions of the civilization rising from Asia. This choice is a compulsory choice of Türkiye with all its forces and producers.  Türkiye will find the government that will make this choice. Those who cannot make this choice cannot remain at the helm of Türkiye.

– 10 urgent steps for the Right Strategy.

Below is the full text of the statement:

In recent days, our President has made important statements about the US attitude towards Türkiye, Palestine and our region.

In his October 10 speech, he said, “What is the US aircraft carrier doing in Israel? What is it going to do, it is going to step into very serious massacres by shooting and landing around Gaza. There are 23 US bases in Syria. What are these bases doing in Syria? What is being done with these bases?” he asked.

In his October 12 speech, he said, “The US is sending an aircraft carrier. The second aircraft carrier will also arrive. Mr. America, where is America, where is the Mediterranean, Israel and Palestine? What are you doing there?” and repeated the same questions.

Finally, in his speech on October 13, he said, “America’s activities in this country with the PKK’s extensions in Syria are an extraordinary threat to Türkiye’s national security.”

Real questions that stab us in the heart

These questions and statements of Mr. President are very important in terms of the period of reckoning we have entered into.  In this context, as the Vatan Party, we ask our President and the government:

– What are the US and NATO doing in Incirlik?

– What are the US and Israel doing in Kürecik?

– What are NATO bases doing in Şirinyer, Çiğli, Konya, Ankara, Mersin?

– What are over 10 US military bases or headquarters doing in Turkey?

– What are the US bases on the Aegean islands, starting from Alexandroupoli, pointing their barrels at Türkiye?

– What are US generals doing in PKK-YPG camps?

– Why did the US shoot down our UCAV in northern Syria?

– Why did the US detonate a bomb at the door of our Ministry of Interior with the PKK?

– What was the US aircraft carrier, which you ask what it is doing in Palestine today, doing off the coast of Antalya a month ago?

– What were Selçuk Bayraktars doing with US generals on the US aircraft carrier anchored in Antalya, which you said would commit massacres in Gaza today? Why did they pose for a photo? In the same context, what is the meaning of the free gift of Turkish UAVs to neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine?

Let us not look for answers far away. These are questions that are embedded in Türkiye’s bosom and heart. Without answering these questions, we cannot answer the distant questions and do what is necessary.

Action not words

The Vatan Party has been insistently warning for many years. In order to establish a correct security strategy, it is first necessary to correctly identify the threat to Türkiye. The threat to Türkiye comes from the US-Israel and NATO.

In his recent speech, Mr. President stated that “America’s activities constitute an extraordinary threat to Türkiye’s national security”.

After this statement, the government can no longer pursue a policy that, under the name of balance policy, puts all our security in the fire and creates insecurity and discredit in the countries of the region. The tales of balance policy are bankrupt.

A single front from the Black Sea to Gaza

We are facing US and Israeli threats and aggression from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from Gaza to the Sea of Oman. All of them are one front.

Even the scene in Palestine reveals this front. The defense of Gaza is the defense of Türkiye. The position of defense of Palestine is the position that Türkiye stands on against the plans of the Second Israel.

Establishing a holistic strategy on this single front is the inevitable necessity of ensuring our own security and defending the Palestinian cause. On the holistic front, all countries facing the US-Israeli axis threat constitute Türkiye’s accumulation of alliances.

In the world-wide alignment, the countries fighting the US-oriented threat are on the same security front with Türkiye.

Forming different strategies in different areas of this front has come at a heavy cost to Türkiye, and this cost is rising every day. Under these circumstances, especially after the President’s statement that the US poses an extraordinary threat, Türkiye has to do what is necessary to fulfill this statement.

There is no way to go with words, condemnations from the rostrums, questions and reproaches.

The balance policy is bankrupt

“Türkiye continues to pose an extraordinary and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” reads the justification for the “National Emergency” declared by Joe Biden three days ago, on October 12.

Again, Schinas, one of the European Commission chiefs, criticized Türkiye in the wake of the Palestinian offensive, asking “Will Türkiye stand by the EU, NATO and their values, or will it stand with Russia and Iran?”, showing the confrontation from the enemy camp.

The whole world recognizes that the US and Israel are primarily targeting Türkiye, Iran, Russia and China. In this strategic polarization, countries are implementing their own strategies. Under these conditions, only Türkiye continues to flounder under the burdens of the Atlantic System.

Türkiye will take the leading position in Asia

We are in a period of historic decision. After 2014, Türkiye has begun to break the chains of the Atlantic and will now choose its place in the new world, in the leading positions of the civilization rising from Asia.

This choice is a compulsory choice for Türkiye, with all its forces and producers.

Türkiye will find the government that will make this choice. It is not possible for those who cannot make this choice to remain at the helm of Türkiye.

Türkiye cannot waste any more time under conditions where the whole world is choosing its place, identifying its friends and enemies and doing what is necessary.

The Vatan Party is the pioneer party at the center of the right front in security and economy. Under these objective conditions, we are the only Party that will be at the center of the National Government of the Producers, which is on the immediate agenda.

Urgent steps for the right strategy

1. Immediate cooperation with Syria in every field. The security corridor strategy is ultimately a strategy of submission to the US. It is the strategy that sacrifices our UCAVs to the US. It is a strategy that does not end the PKK but sweeps it away. It is a strategy that deepens the refugee crisis. This wrong policy must be abandoned. Terrorist organizations in Syria must be eliminated through joint operations with Syria, Russia and Iran. Our neighbors are ready for this.
2. Relations with Iran should be improved, and cooperation should be established in the field. Türkiye should not recognize the US embargoes against Iran. Today, hostility to Iran means serving the US and Israel. This is the measure by which the forces calling themselves anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist are tested in the struggle in Palestine. Iranian friendship is vital for Türkiye’s security, economy and energy security. 
3. The wrong Ukraine policy, which has become a murder, must be urgently abandoned. Ukraine is Greece in the Black Sea. Today Ukraine is against Türkiye and humanity together with Israel on all fronts and most recently on the Palestinian front. Israeli flags are waving in the streets of Kyiv. Türkiye’s security lies in Russia’s friendship. Türkiye, which elbows Russia, sells UCAVs to Ukraine under the guise of trade, and invests 100 million dollars in Kiev, turns against Russia, its strongest ally. Russia is fighting against the US-NATO in Ukraine. This war is also Türkiye’s war.
4. Incirlik and Kürecik bases used by the US and NATO must be taken under the full control of the Turkish Armed Forces. US and NATO soldiers must be sent to their countries. Likewise, Şirinyer Izmir Allied Land Forces Command, Çiğli Izmir US Air Station, Konya NATO Awacs Forward Operating Base, Ankara US Defense Cooperation Office, Ankara Partnership for Peace Training Center, NATO Center of Excellence for Combating Terrorism, and the units of Mersin Port that are used by the US should be closed for US and NATO use.
5. Türkiye must show an immediate determination against NATO’s eastward expansion strategy. In the first stage, the Turkish Grand National Assembly should quickly put the issue on its agenda and reject Sweden’s accession. Türkiye has been de facto excommunicated from NATO. Leaving NATO is now a matter of life and death for Türkiye. Instead of asking NATO “how can we be allies, how can you do this” and similar questions, Türkiye must leave NATO immediately. Leaving NATO is the most effective practice against US plots. Türkiye, freed from NATO, will unify and consolidate its internal front.
6. Cooperation steps should be taken with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries on the basis of common interests against US-Israeli centered threats. As we have previously suggested, we can extract hydrocarbons together from Parcel 18 in the Eastern Mediterranean with the partnership of Türkiye, Egypt and China. Türkiye’s friendship with Egypt, which is in the close line of Israeli aggression, should be strengthened in every field. In a context where the US is losing even its traditional allies in the Gulf, Türkiye should conduct an active foreign policy and increase its friends against the common threat.
7. The bankrupt Atlanticist borrowing economy dependent on Western financial centers must be abandoned immediately. Instead of begging for money in London and New York Banks, a National and Productionist program must be urgently put into effect. Plan, savings, investment, employment and production program is Türkiye’s mandatory program. Again, a correct foreign policy will bring the rising wealth of Asia to Türkiye as an investment and will open new horizons for our producers. There is no money, no natural gas, no electricity, no security in NATO. Türkiye can only breathe economically in the Eurasian climate.
8. The 500 billion dollars earned by the sweat and toil of our people and smuggled abroad must be brought back to Türkiye urgently. The government must put its fist on the table on this issue. This great resource will not be confiscated, it will be invested in Türkiye. We also call out to the owners of that money, the US and Western imperialists have no law, they have tyranny. In the growing tensions, your money is also targeted by imperialist thuggery and is not safe.
9. Cyprus is the front line in the defense of the Eastern Mediterranean. In order for the TRNC to be recognized, a strategy and action plan must be implemented, starting with the Black Sea, Mediterranean and Oman Sea countries that face NATO threats like Türkiye. Our armed presence in the Eastern Mediterranean must be strengthened and a naval base must be established in Cyprus. The Vatan Party has signed a Joint Declaration with Abkhazia for the recognition of the TRNC. For the same purpose, we have held important meetings at the state level in many countries, especially Russia, the People’s Republic of China and Iran. Abkhazia is the key country for the recognition of TRNC. Türkiye should immediately pave the way for this process. In addition, Crimea should be recognized as Russian territory and Abkhazia should be recognized. Recognition of the TRNC starts with these steps.
10. Unity on the home front must be secured. A total struggle against the forces of the US and NATO on the domestic front is a must. In this context, the HDP, the party of the PKK, the Green Left Party or similar organizations must be shut down immediately. The Constitutional Court should be the court of the Turkish state, not the Atlantic system. It is vital to create a climate in Türkiye in which hostile elements, US apparatuses and structures with permanent security weaknesses are not allowed to exist. The total unification of our nation will also be achieved through these steps.

These are the requirements of our President’s speeches. Moreover, they are urgent measures that Türkiye needs to take. If these steps are taken, those speeches will find their meaning. Türkiye has the accumulation and strength to take these steps in the end.

The political will required for these steps is a National Government of Producers with the Vatan Party at its center. The Vatan Party is ready for this task and asks for authorization.