Arabic → English transcript

To the frontlines, Turkey and surplus power.

Turkey recognized the sources of its own power militarily, politically,

and geographically. And it concluded that the failed military coup was an external

conspiracy and a belittling of the seriousness of the decision maker.

That was the starting whistle for declaring confrontation and a show of force.

It began with securing the land belt through military intervention in Syria

four times. The first was in mid- 2016, about one month after

the July coup, and it was called Euphrates Shield.

Turkey launched a military operation in northern Syria, specifically in

the Jarabulus area, against ISIS.

And against the Syrian Democratic Forces,

which it designates as a terrorist organization. The second was in 2018

and was called Operation Olive Branch, against the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The third was in 2019

and was called Operation Peace Spring

and took place in northern and northeastern Syria.

The fourth was in 2020 and was called Operation Spring Shield,

and it was the most famous and the fiercest, and in it entered The Turkish army,

for the first time, faced the Syrian regime army backed by Russia and Iran,

within the de- escalation zones in northwestern Syria. Through those battles,

Turkey imposed itself in the Syrian equation, ignoring Western criticism and

drawing closer to Russia and Iran, forming what is known as the deconfliction trio.

In Iraq, the Turkish military

presence increased in confronting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

It also built up its force to secure the naval perimeter with a military show in

2019 titled “ Blue Homeland,” the largest in the history of the republic.

Turkey wanted to conduct the

drills in its three seas, the Black, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean, to emphasize

two messages:

that it is capable of entering a confrontation simultaneously and everywhere

and that it is ready to fight in defense

of what it sees as its rights in water resources. Ankara also moved to prove

its power in the sensitive centers of the Arabian Gulf when,

with Qatar, it concluded an agreement to establish a Turkish military

base in 2017. And in North Africa, in late 2019

When it signed a security agreement with Libya’s Government of National Accord and

took part militarily in lifting General Khalifa Haftar’s siege of Tripoli,

the skies of Libya came under the control of

Ankara’s allies thanks to modern drones.

And in the South Caucasus in late September 2020

specifically when the war began between Azerbaijan and Armenia,

Erdoğan’s senior adviser İlnur Çevik stated at the time that his country had told

Azerbaijan,“ Go as far as you want,” and the Azeris did go far.

Turkey threw its military and diplomatic weight behind its ally, and within six

weeks the war ended with an Azeri victory and the signing of a peace deal

under Russian sponsorship. And in the Horn of Africa,

through its military presence in Somalia, yes,

it was a declaration of confrontation

and the start of a new phase in relations with the West.