Strutting in vain: you are not Napoleon, Macron

A Macron storm is blowing in Libya, in the Mediterranean, in Lebanon. We have said before that France is in fact acting in keeping with its historical identity, its existence, its style, but it is coming across as very anachronistic, that is, it does so by making the wrong moves at the wrong time. With every move it makes, it makes a fool of itself, and it drags down a little further the reputation that France had pulled together, for better or worse, through a strong public diplomacy effort that sold enlightenment, modernism, human rights and democracy.

Through this public diplomacy effort, it had removed from the agenda, up until just after the Second World War, the savage colonial practices it displayed in Africa and in Algeria. Now Macron, with every move he makes, reminds us of that past again and brings it back onto the world's agenda.

Going to Lebanon, which had experienced a catastrophe, in the manner of a Napoleon, instead of bringing a couple of medicines to dress its wounds, he showers the officials there with orders and tries to appoint new administrators. He shows so clearly that he did not go there to dress the bleeding wounds of the Lebanese people that neither he nor, through him, France is left with a speck of reputation.

From there he makes speeches targeting Turkey. Here he says "we must all stand together against Turkey's expansionist policies", yet Turkey had already begun intensive work in Lebanon with humanitarian aid teams and all its relief activities, without any political imposition, not even a recommendation, toward Lebanon. Not only that, it had opened all of Turkey's hospitals to those wounded in the catastrophe in Lebanon, and had in fact put the port of Mersin at Lebanon's service until the destroyed Beirut Port, Lebanon's lifeline, is rebuilt.

Macron, however, showered orders without promising the Lebanese people anything, without giving anything, showed disrespect to the Lebanese President during the press conference, and gave the impression that he had come to snatch whatever they had left in their hands. In fact, the territorial waters of Lebanon, which has a coast on the Mediterranean, evidently interest Macron very much right now.

Macron is venting his spite at having had his hopes dashed in Libya by Turkey's intervention, just when the morsel was nearly cooked and about to fall into his mouth to be eaten with relish. He too had no positive promise for the Libyan people, say, no proposal from which both he and the Libyan people would gain. Simply and only, through the war criminal Haftar whom he supports, he wanted to seize the assets of the Libyan people. He was on the verge of accomplishing this and Turkey prevented him. Therefore there is an extremely subjective calculation behind Macron's attempts to incite the EU or NATO against Turkey.

Truly, neither NATO nor the EU is unaware of these personal calculations of Macron. That is why he cannot see either NATO or the EU fully behind him. When maps are put on the table, when international maritime law is put on the table, Turkey's being in the right is as clear as day. Macron's attempt to provoke Greece and drive it against Turkey is now perceived as his own personal adventure, and the case is nothing other than this. Although he uses the EU identity and the arguments of international law ruthlessly, he uses none of them in the right place and makes it quite clear that his issue is personal. That is why neither NATO nor the EU will reward such a belated adventurism of a "Napoleon who could not be appointed", as Communications Director Fahrettin Altun put it.

The words this Napoleon aspirant has uttered about our esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also give all the clues about the real reason for the hostility to Erdoğan in the whole Western media. Macron's feelings run exactly parallel to the feelings of the Democratic candidate in the upcoming elections in the USA, Joe Biden, about Erdoğan. Because Erdoğan is an active, independent leader who gains for his country through his politics, and who in gaining for his country throws a stone in the way of colonial ambitions like theirs. These criticisms of him, that he is authoritarian, that he has moved away from democracy and so on, and the perceptions formed by these criticisms, mean nothing other than this. Macron said: "We have no problem with the Turkish people, our problem is with Erdoğan."

Of course he will say so; Erdoğan truly is gaining a great deal for Turkey, and these gains cause countries with a colonial mentality like France to lose from their piratical, unjust gains.

Otherwise, in fact, these gains of Turkey that came with Erdoğan do no harm at all to the legitimate gains of France or any other country. Turkey under Erdoğan's administration is only in pursuit of what it has a right to. Everyone with a coast on the Mediterranean has rights, and Turkey recognizes these rights. But it could not be more natural that those who aspire to more than their right, and who have made it their way until now to take it, have a problem with Erdoğan, who throws a stone in the way of this.

Who would have a problem with leaders who until now have not properly represented the Turkish people, have not looked after Turkey's interests, and have generously given them as gifts to other countries?

Have you ever heard a Western criticism that took issue with the despotism-laden politics of İsmet İnönü, who refused to take the islands in question despite all the insistence on giving them to us, and who in the end all but made a gift of them to Greece? The further a politician of ours is from his own people, the closer he is to such colonial countries.

Isn't the reason for their problem with Erdoğan clear enough?