Erdogan's organizations in the Gulf (2-2)

The first part of the study tackled Turkey's attempts to penetrate the Arab region via organizations and mechanism under what is known as 'soft power' in a bid to influence the region and reinstate the Ottoman state. That's what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thinks.

The first part highlighted the Turkish economic and commercial organizations and companies in many countries in the region. Turkey has also founded friendship associations and aid agencies as part of its penetration plot.  

In this part we will tackle the social and cultural organizations, in addition to transnational organizations.

Cultural organizations  

Turkey has banked on art and culture as a bridge with the Arab world. Turkish writer Kemal Yershogi said Saudi women adore Turkish soap operas the most. A survey revealed that 71% of Saudi women like Turkish soap operas, which urged them to visit Turkey.

The Turks have been keen on establishing associations and organizations, which seek communication with the Arab world, such as the Turkish Arab Association for Science, Culture and Arts.

The Turkish authorities licensed the non-profit Arab Association for Science, Culture and Arts on April 2, 2008. It licensed a number of other organizations, like the Turkish Arab Institute for Studies and Documentation and the Turkish Arab Forum for Cultural Dialogue have come into being as well.

Bashak Shahir Academy, which is a nongovernmental organization, invites young people, named by the Muslim Brotherhood, to get some courses in Turkey. The young people are trained on democracy and change mechanisms.

The course invites between four and 30 young people to take courses in Istanbul and Ankara, fully funded by the Turkish academy.

The academy targets alliances between the civil society organizations to empower women to involve them in the political process and train the youth to set up alliances for specific causes.

The Turkish Arab Youth Conference was held on October 24, 2014, in Istanbul. The Istanbul Municipality paid in association with Bashak Shahir Academy the expenses.     

Delegations from Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Palestine attended the conference, along with a number of young people from Muslim Brotherhood.

Bulent Aras, former advisor to Turkish prime minister, and Mohamet Oglu, head of the Turkish Red Crescent, delivered speeches during the four-day event.

The academy has a branch in Tunisia. El-Mahrousa Center organizes the academy's activities in Egypt.

The academy resembles the Turkish-Egyptian Friendship Association, which aims at boosting ties between the Egyptian and Turkish peoples.

Transnational organization

We cannot separate between the Turkish state-run organizations and the Turkish transnational movements like Gulen, which has branches in all Arab countries. Despite the political disagreements between Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen, all of the organizations serve Turkey's objectives.

Gulen's empire includes Bank Asya. The bank's assets totaled $5.2 bn in 2008.

Gulen movement established 20 universities and many schools in the Arab world.

It founded Salahaldin International School in El-Tagammu El-Khames in 2009. It also established a school complex, under the same name, in Beni Suef.

 There's a specific program for education and behavior at these schools.

The Gulen movement also owns Cihan news agency, which produces 500 news items, 100 video news and more than 100 photos per day.

 The Gulen movement also owns a TV channel and a publishing house.

Outlook

Turkey has capitalized on a number of organizations to carry out its imperial objective and restore the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan treated Arab countries as if they were Turkish colonies.

The Turkish expansionary role is expected to grow. But that will depend on two factors as follows:

1.    The Turkish public support to Erdogan and internal reforms, including a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish case. This will also depend on the political harmony with the United States.      

2.    Failure of the Turkish role due to collision with the Donald Trump-led US. That would drive Ankara to pay attention to its home affairs and concentrate on its domestic problems, including the economic turmoil that has hit Turkey.

Conclusions

We can conclude that Turkey has been engaged in full-fledged conspiracy against the Arab region. However, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have exerted massive efforts to ward off and foil the Turkish plots.