Foreign policy is now more important than ever... It is impossible to predict the answer to the question “What kind of future awaits every single person living on this planet?” without following the developments in global politics. The views of a political party on foreign policy are also more important than ever. Perhaps some politicians are still unaware of this, but voters attach great importance to statements on foreign policy when going to the polls. Unfortunately, foreign policy is one of the main opposition party's weakest areas... And this has been the case for years! The gaffes made by the party chairman and party spokespersons on this issue are countless. The biggest responsible for this is the CHP Deputy Chairmanship in charge of Foreign Policy...
FOREIGN POLICY HOW MANY BLUNDERS IS THIS?...
Aside from their gaffes to date, this team, which, for some reason, constantly voices its antipathy towards Russia and directs the party's chairman and spokespersons with an archaic diplomatic logic and a perspective based on European Union (EU) admiration and NATO support, imposes the arbitrary approaches of three or five former diplomats and a few academics. On the eve of the 2023 elections, do you remember the social media post of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, then CHP chairman and the presidential candidate of the Table of Six, in which he railed against Russian President Vladimir Putin? It was an out of the blue, ranting, threatening post: “Dear Russian friends, you are behind the montages, conspiracies, Deep Fake content and tapes that were revealed in this country yesterday. If you want our friendship to continue after May 15, take your hands off the Turkish state. We are still in favor of cooperation and friendship”. I don't know who provoked him to make such an outburst, or I don't know, but he looked ridiculous.
WESTERN BIAS TERRIBLE MEMORIZATION
Again, you hear the phrase “With this authoritarianism, Turkey will one day become like Russia”, which has become a nursery rhyme in the statements of CHP spokespersons. Or absurd approaches such as “What are we doing in the Middle East?” or “What are we doing in Africa?”...
I had hoped for a major change in the CHP's Foreign Policy Directorate after Özgür Özel's harsh outbursts against the US and EU countries that supported President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the ‘The Nation is Possessing its Will’ rallies, but it was my foolish optimism!
Especially in the aftermath of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
‘Iran's Threat to Regional and Euro-Atlantic Security’ After seeing the report... It is as if it was written from the mouth of one of the Pentagon's hawks... Look at the discourse and the findings: Iran retains the capacity to destabilize the Middle East. Its vast missile program, one of the largest in the region, and its persistence in pursuing nuclear capability pose a serious regional and global risk. Iran's material support for Russian aggression against Ukraine and its deepening ties with China and North Korea further complicate the regional and international security environment and challenge Euro-Atlantic interests”.
FORTUNATELY VOTERS AND GRASSROOTS DOES NOT FORGET FOUNDING VALUES
SolHaber, in line with the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), was the first to bring up and criticize this report. I can sign almost every line of the criticism, but it should not be forgotten that the CHP is a ‘center-left’ party, and like similar center-left parties in Europe, it is one of the defenders of the neoliberal system... Nevertheless, I must give it its due, neither the Social Democrat Party of Germany (SPD) nor Die Grünen (the Greens), with their spokesmanship for the aggressive wing of NATO, their hostility towards Russia, and their warmongering, can be compared to this!
The only reason why the CHP has not fallen into a situation as disgraceful as the European center-left parties is the Kemalist ideology that stems from the fact that the party is a founding party and cannot be destroyed no matter what is done. This is the point; because of the national independenceist line that constitutes the essence of the founding ideology, the deputies who signed this report on behalf of the CHP and all CHP executives who contributed to the report are actually betraying the founding values of the party.
THIS REPORT FROM THE BEGINNING AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER
The overall approach of the report is a disgrace, and naturally so are the details! The summary of the report argues that Iran has been a source of instability in the Middle East since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, was aimed at pushing back the US military and political influence in the Middle East, dismantling the state of Israel and establishing a Palestinian state controlled by groups aligned with its ideology. The recommendations that follow are even worse: NATO members should increase their focus on Iran's destabilizing actions and explore how they can harmonize and expand their ‘maximum pressure’ strategy, and make ‘key recommendations’ to allied countries.
RUSSIA AND CHINA TOO TARGETING
The report notes that Iran's relations with the People's Republic of China, North Korea and the Russian Federation reinforce a broader anti-Western alliance, allowing Iran to circumvent sanctions, expand its weapons development and provide an international platform for its regime. “In this context, Iran is not acting in isolation; rather, it is acting as part of a broader constellation of actors determined to undermine the rules-based international order and challenge the interests of NATO allies,” it concludes, targeting Russia, China and North Korea. As if it was written by Joe Biden and the Democrats‘ 'neo-cons' and not Donald Trump and the Republicans!.
LET ALONE THE GULF THEY WILL MAKE IT A MEMBER OF NATO!
Another observation, of course, when the head is the same, so is the continuation: “It contributes to persistent instability, deepening rivalries with Gulf Arab states, Israel, the United States and other Western and regional powers, and the threat of a wider and destructive conflict in the region... Since October 2023, Iran has strengthened its military, financial and political support for Hamas, reinforcing its alignment with the group. This support is based on common interests on the ground and Iran's strategic objective of opposing Israeli policies, rather than shared ideology... While Tehran does not currently possess a viable nuclear weapons design, its growing willingness to advance its nuclear capabilities increases the risk of conflict, posing a direct threat to international security as broader instability across the Middle East grows. This risk became clear after the International Atomic Energy Agency declared in June 2025 that Iran had violated its non-proliferation obligations by failing to declare nuclear-related activities, prompting Israel, followed by the United States, to launch attacks on key Iranian nuclear facilities.’ I am not quoting verbatim, but the striking paragraphs of the report. Whoever contributed to the writing of this report or signed it is obviously in favor of a unipolar world order where the US rules the roost. This means nothing but ignoring the interests of developing economies, including Turkey, and applauding imperialist expansionism wholeheartedly. In other words, whichever way you look at it, what is this if not disregarding the point of view of 80 percent of this nation?
IT'S NOT AN ISRAELI ISSUE NOT KNOWING WHAT PATRIOTISM IS
Let me immediately point out here that the fact that the AK Party's Ikhwan remnants criticize the issue through Israel and not much else is due to the hypocrisy of political Islamists. It is impossible not to see that every foreign policy construct of the AK Party governments plays into Israel's hands. Weren't they the ones who did their best to support the coalition that fomented the civil war in Syria and became the apparatus of the US and the EU? The last people who can criticize this report are the AK Party and MHP leaders!
Let me add one last passage from the report: “A more stable and secure Syria will give allies a chance to break the cycle of conflict that has fueled regional migration and terrorism in the region. The current transition is critical to marginalizing Iranian influence. Allies can weaken Iran's proxy forces by supporting policies that strengthen Lebanese and Iraqi state institutions. In line with NATO's newly established Southern Neighbourhood Unit and its policy of seeking greater stability in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel region, ways to develop and update the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) framework should be explored. Building on this twenty-year old, proven initiative, NATO should consider deepening cooperation with the Gulf states and expanding to other countries in the region.”.
IF NOT NATO FOOT SOLDIERS WHAT ARE THESE FINDINGS?
It is hard not to curse. What is signing such a text if not being a foot soldier for NATO, the aggressive pact of the Western Bloc? Those who signed it, or those who keep silent against those who signed it, are hypocrites who talk about ‘the War of Independence’ and ‘they are proud to be a member of Atatürk's party’ while asking for votes... For example, people like CHP MP Utku Çakırözer, who before entering politics, even when he was the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper, targeted his own columnists when the going got tough... As you may remember, the newspaper had made an agreement to print the new issue in Turkish one-to-one as a show of solidarity after the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo. Then Çakırözer, fearing the backlash, did not implement the agreement. Embarrassed by the cowardice of the newspaper's editor-in-chief, the two columnists then featured the cover of the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo in their columns. So what did this ‘courageous journalist’ do? Although he had no such right, he announced on Cumhuriyet's website that ‘this decision was binding on those two columnists, that the newspaper management had no such decision' and targeted these two journalists. The reason: cowardice and unprincipledness, and personal aggrandizement... Why personal aggrandizement?... Because at that time, instead of practicing journalism, this person was chasing after CHP bigwigs and trying to become an MP. And he succeeded!
TO WHINE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
It was clear that the result of his success would one day bring shame to the CHP. He is doing the same thing today, making ridiculous excuses to throw the ball away because he is in a difficult situation. Let me share Çakırözer's statement on the issue on social media, so you can learn how to be brazen: “As members of the Republican People's Party, we act as representatives who have adopted the founding foreign policy principles of our Republic in all international organizations and alliances where Turkey is present, and we do our part when we believe that the decisions and actions of these organizations are against the interests of our country. We strongly condemn those who accuse me or other representatives of my party of attempting to disrupt peace and good relations between Turkey and a neighboring country, and we reject these baseless allegations.”.
I guess he thinks that no one but himself can read and write, or he thinks everyone is stupid.
POLITICAL PART ASIDE A MATTER OF MORALITY
What follows is even more absurd... Stating that the report is a text in line with NATO's 2022 Strategic Concept and the decisions taken at the 2023 Vilnius and 2024 Washington Summits, he says: “This report is not the personal report of me, my party CHP, our TBMM NATOPA delegation consisting of different parties, or our country. It is a collective document of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.” So... If a person signs a text, it means that he adopts and supports it. For example, if I say in this article “I sign my name to the comments of SolHaber”, I am saying “I think the same way and support it”. As a citizen with any average level of morality, I would defend this, I would not backtrack. And that is the whole point; to be moral or not to be moral, to be patriotic or not to be patriotic!