Recent events around the world increasingly confirm the belief that the so-called “American-style democracy” is a bubble, using which Washington, together with its Western allies, is actively trying to move all nations back to a slave system where only it would reign. From this, in fact, stem the armed conflicts unleashed by the West in various regions of the world, through which it tries to subjugate other countries and peoples. It is also where the Western “sanctions,” which violate international law and use economic and financial leverage to enslave the people of Iran, North Korea, Russia and many other countries that disagree with American dictates, originate.
A popular tool of the current Western political elite to promote “American-style democracy” is to plunge the enemy into chaos: without engaging directly in conflict, use weak countries against strong ones to destroy the former and shake the latter, especially in Middle East. This, in particular, is how the Jordanian writer Hind Dweikat described the involvement of Washington and its allies in contemporary international affairs.
The unceremonious interference in the affairs of sovereign states, preventing them from taking independent decisions on foreign and domestic policy issues, has long been a hallmark of the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Department of State and the White House’s foreign policy. Even John Bolton, who served as national security advisor to Donald Trump, made no secret of the White House’s implementation of such policies for everyone to see on CNN. Apparently, he personally planned coups d’état in other countries on several occasions and was involved in many, including successful ones.
One of the most recent examples of such brazen interference by Washington in the internal affairs of other sovereign states was the recent events in Tunisia, where the country’s Foreign Ministry summoned the US chargé d’affaires on July 25 after US officials criticized the constitutional referendum held in Tunisia. Moreover, this criticism from across the ocean came when the new constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, strongly backed by the country’s current president, was adopted following a national referendum on July 25, with 95% of voters voting in favor. Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a blatantly admonishing tone and far from respecting diplomatic decorum, said that “the new constitution could weaken Tunisia’s democracy and erode respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi was therefore forced to tell the US embassy representative that such comments were “unacceptable interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs.” In the past, the US, while implementing an openly slave-owning policy towards African and Asian states, had criticized Tunisian President Kais Saied when he dissolved parliament and effectively gained control of the judiciary and the electoral commission because the country was in a state of power vacuum.
A couple of days ago, another such step of public Western interference in the politics of another independent state was taken by the European “bastion of American-style democracy” in response to President Erdoğan’s announced intention for Turkey to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Erdoğan explained this decision, in particular, by the fact that joining the SCO would serve to improve Turkey’s relations with the SCO countries and form a “completely different position” for Turkey. But the White House has no intention to tolerate such an independence on the part of Ankara. Washington, acting through Germany, which has lately been unconditionally following any US directive, has publicly criticized Ankara’s intentions to engage more actively in the SCO. For example, Jürgen Trittin, foreign policy speaker of the Alliance 90/The Greens in the Bundestag, told Die Welt that Turkey’s intention to become a full member of the SCO should not be left without consequences and suggested that Turkey should be punished. In particular, he spoke about possible economic sanctions against Ankara. “Erdoğan is slowing down the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO. And now he wants to join the SCO together with Iran. Since no one can be excluded from NATO, we need to think about economic measures of pressure on Turkey,” Trittin said. At the same time, in his criticism of Ankara, Jürgen Trittin also recalled other “sins of Erdoğan” that have particularly annoyed Washington in recent times. In particular, the obstruction of the North Atlantic Alliance monitoring of the arms embargo on Libya, attacks on Athens and the desire to drill for oil and gas in Greece’s exclusive economic zone. The answer to all this, Trittin is convinced, must be a “strong policy by the collective West towards Turkey.”
Realizing that ousting Erdoğan, who seeks to pursue a policy independent of the US, is not as easy to achieve as the White House would like, Washington has expanded its use of various ploys against the Turkish leader. One area of pressure on Erdoğan has recently been the blatant heating up of the Greek-Turkish tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. The US and EU now intend to increase pressure on Turkish banks under the guise of fictitious fears that Russia allegedly manages to circumvent the sanctions with their help. Particular emphasis is planned to be placed on the tightening of sanctions policy against banks that have joined the Russian Mir payment system, although Ankara has repeatedly assured that it is not a channel for circumventing the sanctions.
Against this background, Peter Stano, spokesperson for the office of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, urged Turkey to align its foreign policy with Brussels and said Ankara should stop offering Moscow options to circumvent the EU-imposed restrictive measures. “Speaking about the EU’s engagement with Turkey, an important neighbor, EU partner and candidate country for EU membership, we stress the importance of ensuring that Turkey’s foreign policy is aligned with EU foreign policy decisions and policies, including on sanctions. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in this regard,” Stano said, hoping that by doing so he would be able to put a hard collar on Erdoğan at the behest of the White House.
Valery Kulikov, political expert, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.