What Ankara is doing is beneficial to Iran: What is this “Five Seas” theory | Kayahan Uyghur

This concept, which has a very ancient history, but was put on the agenda again in a speech by Syrian President Assad in 2004, suggests that the Middle East is a crossroads surrounded by five seas: the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. According to the theory, in order to control the Middle East, it is necessary to provide at least one port in each of these seas.

The “Five Seas” theory.

The “Five Seas” theory helps us understand the developments we have witnessed in recent years. Because there is a huge struggle to control those seas. It is clear for what purpose Aissat is talking about this project, the importance of which is mentioned in Chinese documents, especially with regard to the Silk Road. When Aissat spoke of the Five Seas, he was no doubt not just thinking of Syria, which has a coastline on the Mediterranean. At least he was talking about Syria being in close alliance with Iran, and in reality he meant his “friend” Iran.

Since American intervention in Iraq at the time was seen as a major opportunity for the Shiite world, Iran, which has coastlines on the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and enjoyed close ties with Iraq’s Shiite majority, was very popular. Real spring weather was blowing. So much so that it was said that border and passport controls would be abolished in the region extending from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea. Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time, was talking about creating a “shamgen” in the Middle East in relation to the Schengen Area in Europe.

For us, that period, which we remember with the slogan “Zero problems with neighbors,” ended after a while and a lot of water flowed under the bridge. The unnatural cooperation, the terrorist organizations that appeared like wildfire, and the civil wars that began with the “Arab Winter” changed all models or revealed their true models. Of course, it was Iran that put the “Five Seas” theory into practice step by step throughout this period, with piety and Eastern cunning in abundance.

Iran has gained significant influence in Iraq and Syria in the past twenty years. In Lebanon, it has become very strong thanks to Hezbollah. One of its branches communicates with Palestine through Hamas. Thus, the countries under Iranian influence settled between the Turkish borders and the Middle East.

On the other hand, in Yemen, we see how strong and dangerous the Houthis are, who are supported by Iran in every aspect. If we know that Yemen is the gateway to the Red Sea, we see that 4 of Iran’s goals in the “Five Seas” have been achieved, and we must admit that this is a success for Iran.

Among the seas surrounding the Middle East, the only sea that Iran does not control is the Black Sea, and it is not wrong to hope so. How effective Turkey’s foreign policy mistakes have been in Iran’s success is a topic that needs in-depth discussion, but the parallel between Ankara and Tehran does not go unnoticed. In fact, in the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the entire Islamic and Arab world, only Iran and Turkey were at the forefront and attracting attention as two similarly focused countries.

At this rate, the Iranians may develop new projects for the Black Sea, the last of those “five seas.” Their intentions towards sisterly Azerbaijan and friendly Georgia are already known. Armenia is a very close ally of Iran.

“The mind of a 2,500-year-old state”

As a result, the remarkable developments that the region has witnessed in the past twenty years show that Iran should not be underestimated when it comes to state intelligence. Whenever I hear statements containing the phrase “2,500 years of state wisdom,” I think of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi. He also liked that the roots of his state extend back to ancient times. In fact, in 1971, he organized a huge international celebration, spending huge sums of money, to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Iranian state. Hundreds of world leaders, kings, princes and sheikhs, including our then President Cevdet Sonay, were hosted for a 5-and-a-half-hour banquet, with meals specially prepared by the chefs of the Maxim restaurant in Paris.

By the way, the issue of “not maintaining reputation” is a typical sign of Iranian culture. As a testament to the country’s 2,500-year-old reputation, Reza Shah spent $120 million at the time, according to figures provided by the BBC. Soldiers dressed in the uniforms of Iranian armies in different periods performed demonstrations as guards and reenacted historical events.

On the other hand, no matter how wrong Reza Pahlavi’s predictions about the future of his dynasty were, it is true that Iran had very ancient state traditions. The Persians, with the “world” state they established in 550 BC, were the oldest empire in the world, and they set an example for others to follow. The country that Aristotle gives as an example of a despotic state in his Politics is Iran, and the people he defines as a people inclined to slaves and subjects are the Iranians. The West’s criticism of the East and the East’s criticism of the West have been the same since that period.

The polarization between West and East is very old

The polarization between West and East manifested itself for the first time in history between ancient Greek civilization and the Persians and continues to this day. In fact, the geopolitical “Five Seas” theory was an important goal of the Persian Empire from those times, and changing regimes, religion and culture did not change its Persian character.

In the wars between Athens, which represented the West in ancient times, and the Persians, the naval battle of Salamina, which took place on February 23, 480 BC, is one of the turning points in this rivalry. The Persian advance stopped there. Alexander the Great, who entered Islamic culture as Dhul-Qarnayn and was a beloved student of Aristotle, defeated the Persians twice in the Issus region of Hatay and in Erbil in 333 and 331 BC and annihilated their empire. Iran, which was later revived under the guise of the Parthian Empire, the Sassanids, the Qajars, the Pahlavis and the Islamic Republic, has no other parallel in history in this regard. Since some Western historians say that the Abbasids continued the ancient Sasanian traditions within Islam, we can say that Iran has 7 creatures.

Here is Iran, once again, a major regional power… of course, for now. If he finds the opportunity and can create a nuclear bomb, he will go further. The United Nations Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement on Wednesday last week that Iran’s stock of enriched uranium exceeds 22 times the limit stipulated in the agreement reached in 2015. It added that Tehran’s withdrawal of the accreditation of inspectors was “excessive and unfair” and had the effect of dangerously affecting the agency’s work.

If Iran becomes a nuclear power, Turkey will be the first country whose influence in the region will decrease, but despite this, in the statements made by Ankara last week and on the same day, the reasons for targeting only Israeli nuclear assets, not Iranian assets. It was not understood.

Which path will Türkiye choose?

No one should underestimate the danger posed by Iran with its aggressive expansionist policies and the network of allies it has created in today’s world, where the tendency is strong to isolate our country from the West and East and exclude it from the world.

While there was a storm of political murders in the 1990s and some Iran-linked terrorists were arrested and convicted, there were those who tried to hide the threat posed by political Islam and Iran to internal security with conspiracy theories. I wonder if the progress our eastern neighbor has made over the past twenty years, for one reason or another, has changed their point of view at that time?

In addition, while our country was never the official spokesman for the East against the West after the republic founded by Ataturk in light of the polarization between East and West that has continued in every period of the world, the impression now is completely different, at least in the West. Europe and Germany.

I believe that the mind of our country, which we are proud of, should also think about other theoretical and practical reasons for Iran’s success in the Middle East, such as the “Five Seas.” Of course, without delay.

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