In the past few days, there was a meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government of Northern Iraq, Nechervan Barzani. One of the most important subjects on the agenda of this meeting was the Kurdish oil deal that caused tensions in relations on the Baghdat-Ankara and Erbil-Baghdat route. Another important subject was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria taking hold of the highway between Kirkuk and Baghdat. Nechervan Barzani discussed the security status of the region and stated that ISIS is not a threat only for Iraq, but for the entire region as well.
It is a demonstrable fact that Iraq is in a perilous state; this situation in Iraq began with the US occupation. As it is known, the US, which occupied Iraq with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, overturned the Saddam Hussein regime and an insurgency promptly followed. The number of Muslims who lost their lives in Iraq during the American occupation was more than 1.5 million, and 4.5 million people were displaced. Most of these people are still refugees.
However, even after the US withdrawal from Iraq, the turmoil did not end. Following the US occupation, Iraq now faces sectarian warfare. The fact that civil peace can by no means be secured has turned Iraq into an ocean of blood. Every day Muslims are killing one another with bombs going off in different cities of the country. In short, Iraq does not have any peace, safety or progression and a system that can achieve this has not yet been implemented. In the founding of such a system, close relations between Iraq and Turkey are highly significant. Even so, Turkey has to have closer ties with other Muslim countries in the region as well to achieve regional peace. An understanding of fraternity among Muslims and countries of the region, with no sectarian distinctions, would lead to a strong union. However, an Islamic Union, which will be the solution to all problems, could not be established yet. For this reason, starting with Iraq and Syria, the problems of the Islamic world has not yet come to an end.
If we continue with the example of Iraq, 300,000 people have left the region because of the embargo and the existence of ISIS in the country. Troubles continue in other parts of Iraq also. The only reason for this is the lack of security. The Iraqi government is buying weapons to ensure this security; with the agreement signed with Russia, Iraq has purchased 4.2 million dollars’ worth of weapons from Russia. This is a huge amount of money for Iraq and this is only the amount paid to Russia. The country also buys weapons, helicopters and F16s from many other countries such as the US, The Czech Republic and South Korea. The only reason to spend so much on weapons is the need for protection. Terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS are committing all sorts of acts of violence in the country without blinking an eye. However the government, assuming that it can protect its people from the attacks of these organizations with weapons, fail to do so despite all the weapons it owns. It is clear from experience so-far that this method will never solve any problems. These events, the extent of which no one could grasp without self-experience, have reached terrifying dimensions. In Iraq, these organizations continue to take civilian lives with bombing attacks and murders; an average of 29 people lose their lives every day in the country due to attacks of these organizations. Since 2013 the number of dead has reached 10,000; in January alone, 1,000 people lost their lives. These numbers could help us understand the violent state of the environment there.
The solution here is to understand that Islamic Union is a must. It must not be forgotten that the amount spent on weapons could easily cover the cost of the needs of our brothers who live there. Therefore, it must first be made clear that weapons are not a solution. The most striking example of this is Fallujah, currently occupied by ISIS. In Fallujah, people are trying to survive at gunpoint. However as a result of embargo, bombings and sectarian conflict, some nine thousand families were forced to leave. Even a single example here shows that weapons are not the solution to ensure peace.
All the people of Iraq are in a dire situation and the people who put them in this position are radical militants. These militants owe their determination not only to their weapons, but also to the belief in their minds. Therefore, the way to defeat them is not by force or counter-fire, but responding to the mistaken beliefs in their minds with the right ones, and turning these mistaken beliefs into correct ones could only be achieved through education. An education that eradicates fundamentalism and radicalism, and that teaches modernity, quality and good moral values is essential. Developing a belief system that will comprehend the need to live in peace and brotherhood both nationwide and together with neighboring countries, in a world where there are no sectarian conflicts or oil crises, and to put forth an intellectual struggle to form unity is a must.
Actually it is very easy to nestle this belief, because this belief already exists in our souls and consciences. It only needs to be put into words and remembered that the Islamic Union is the only solution and a must. This unifying aspect, which is enlightened with God’s blessing and rules with love and justice as commanded by the Holy Qur’an, is the only hope of the long crushed and exploited Islamic world. The Islamic Union will remind all Muslims that they are “brothers” as heralded by our Prophet (pbuh), and will pave the way for a world where Muslims and non-Muslims can co-exist in peace and harmony. The atmosphere of love, peace and brotherhood awaited by the whole world will only be reached with the Islamic Union.
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