Question:
On the 28th and 29th of January 2014, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited Iran. The Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on 30/01/2014, quoting a source close to Prime Minister Erdogan: "US Treasury Under Secretary David Cohen visited Erdogan on the eve of his departure to Tehran the day before yesterday (28/01/2014)..." The source added that "the Syrian file was one of the primary topics of the visit." Additionally, the Turkish Ministry of Economy announced that "a preferential trade agreement concluded between Turkey and Iran was signed on the sidelines of Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to Iran" (Yeni Safak Turkish newspaper, 31/01/2014).
The question is: The preferential trade agreement and the Syrian file were prominent during the visit. Is the purpose of the visit the commercial factor, the Syrian file, or both? And what is America's role in this? May Allah reward you with goodness.
Answer:
The primary objective of the visit is the Syrian issue, as a continuation of what we mentioned in the Answer to a Question issued on 30/11/2013, which stated: "...Due to these crises wrapping around America's neck and hindering its direct influence... and because its agents, throughout these three years, have not been able to establish a stable and effective presence in Syria; rather, the chants for the Khilafah strike their hearing, sight, and hearts... For all this, America wanted the regional countries around Syria to be its front line in standing against the emergence of any new rule that adopts the Khilafah as a system for the state, life, and society. Consequently, America set its sights on two countries to task with this mission, both being its followers: Turkey and Iran. As for Turkey, there are no restrictions on its movements. As for Iran, the sanctions and their consequences formed a constraint on it, limiting its effective international and regional activity, leaving it in semi-isolation. Because Iran is more active in moving against the Khilafah than Turkey—since the Khilafah, in the tsaqofah of Iran’s rulers, is considered a rejected matter, making them active in fighting it, whereas in the heritage of the Turks there are long eras of the Khilafah, making the regime in Turkey maneuver and evade when fighting the Khilafah... Thus, the new plan required activating the role of these two countries in the mentioned manner: to stand against the Islamic movements in Syria striving to establish the Khilafah, whether through criminal material acts inside Syria or through treacherous political acts in Geneva and elsewhere... This is so they can find a subsequent puppet ruler for a previous puppet and frustrate the work for the Khilafah... The Turkish Foreign Minister visited Tehran on 27/11/2013, and the talks focused on cooperation between them regarding the Syrian matter and the Geneva conference, and what was hidden is even greater...)" End of what was stated in our previous answer.
America, currently occupied with crafting a political solution with an opposition that is severed from its roots within the country, wants Iran and Turkey to suppress the sincere voices seeking the Khilafah in Ash-Sham. This is to pave the way for gaining acceptance for any political solution manufactured in Geneva as a first step toward international intervention to stabilize the political solution America is working for. This is the primary goal of the visit, and this is what the US Treasury Under Secretary discussed with Erdogan on the eve of his visit to Tehran on 28/01/2014, as reported by Ash-Sharq al-Awsat on 30/01/2014, citing a source close to Prime Minister Erdogan: that "the Syrian file was one of the fundamental topics of the visit." This demonstrates the active American role in the rapprochement between Iran and Turkey to prevent any actual trend among the people in Syria to implement the Sharia of Allah in the Khilafah State—doing so through brutality and intimidation via Iran, and through misdirection, deception, and the hypocrisy of lip-service support via Turkey.
Erdogan's visit was preceded by two visits that paved the way for this goal:
First: The visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister, which we referred to in our previous answer. The strengthening of Iranian-Turkish relations began after the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the end of last year, specifically on 27/11/2013. On that date, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Levent Gumrukcu, made statements to Ash-Sharq al-Awsat regarding this visit, saying: "There is complete consensus on developing bilateral relations between the two countries, there are positive talks about Syria, and complete consensus on the commitment to cooperation between the two countries to solve the crisis in Syria and stop the bloodshed there." Thus, Davutoglu prepared for Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to Iran to strengthen this consensus between them on solving the Syrian crisis based on the resolutions of the Geneva Conference. It is well known that the Geneva 1 and 2 conference projects are American projects and plans drawn up by America to maintain its influence in Syria by preserving the existing secular regime linked to it, while replacing some individuals and preventing the establishment of the Islamic system and the declaration of the Khilafah. The Institute's website reported on 30/01/2014 that Erdogan, during his meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, emphasized: "Agreement with Iran on confronting terrorism." By "terrorism," they mean the Western definition—that is, every sincere and faithful action for Islam. Likewise, this website, which supports Iranian policy, quoted official Iranian sources announcing shortly before the arrival of the Turkish delegation that: "Iran will re-propose its vision for the solution project in Syria and will provide a full explanation." Thus, Turkey and Iran have worked to strengthen their relationship to achieve complete consensus on the Syrian issue as mentioned earlier, and Erdogan's visit came to complete what had been prepared for between the two parties in service of American projects.
Second: The visit of the head of Turkish Intelligence, Hakan Fidan, with a special intelligence delegation. The Milliyet newspaper reported on 30/01/2014 that "Turkish intelligence advisor Hakan Fidan visited Tehran before Erdogan's arrival at the head of an unofficial delegation and he and Erdogan stayed in the same hotel." This head of Turkish intelligence holds the Syrian file and began coordinating with the head of American intelligence from the first days of the outbreak of the revolution regarding Syria. This means there will be intelligence coordination between Turkey and Iran to carry out actions that implement the American project in Syria, such as spying on the movements of the sincere people in Syria, determining how to get rid of them, striking their movements, and working to contain others to bring them to support the American project by involving them in the ongoing talks between the regime and the Coalition, both of which follow America. Salih Muslim, head of the Kurdish National Party—which deals with the Syrian regime and is an extension of Ocalan’s PKK party (loyal to America)—had previously met with the head of Turkish intelligence. Afterward, he stated to Ash-Sharq al-Awsat on 21/08/2013: "We must wait for the coming days to see how these promises will be translated, especially those made by both the Turkish and Iranian sides with the aim of fighting the Islamists..."
This is the primary goal of the visit—the Syrian file—but certain considerations required that this goal be wrapped in a commercial cover. This purpose serves three things:
First: Mitigating the impact of the friendly relationship with Iran by focusing on the commercial aspect and trade agreements, and superficially distracting attention somewhat from the Syrian crisis. This is because Iran's position is hostile to the Syrian revolution, as it is a major element in the fighting alongside Bashar, while Erdogan pretends to be with the Syrian revolution! Making the visit focused solely on the Syrian crisis as the only goal would embarrass Erdogan and expose him to the public, showing that his claimed support and victory for the revolution is nothing but "much ado about nothing." Therefore, he focuses on the commercial goal during the visit, as if to say his visit is commercial without touching Erdogan's position in supporting the Syrian revolution—out of deception and playing on the weak-minded!
Second: Attempting to mitigate the corruption scandals that involved those close to him. Among these scandals was the announcement of bribes offered by Iranian parties to Turkish officials to pass Iranian trade deals with Turkey. Erdogan wants to say through these trade agreements he concluded: that those were not bribes, but rather commercial relations between their two countries, and that the transfers of funds are all legitimate and do not violate laws, and that what is claimed to be a bribe is merely receiving a commission in exchange for performing those tasks! This, in his view, paves the way for exonerating the sons of his ministers who resigned following that scandal, as well as others among his followers and supporters being tried in this case.
Third: Erdogan wants to boost confidence in the Turkish economy, which was shaken following the corruption scandal, causing the exchange rate of the Turkish currency to plummet significantly. The dollar today equals 2.26 Lira, whereas before this crisis it was about two Lira. It is worth noting that when Erdogan removed the zeros and issued the new Lira, starting circulation in 2009, it was equal to one dollar. This scandal affected the Turkish stock market, where some unofficial sources estimate losses have reached about 100 billion dollars since the disclosure of the recent corruption scandal. This scandal revealed that the Turkish economy is an unreal and unstable economy based on debt; Turkey's external debt doubled from 130 billion dollars at the end of 2002 when Erdogan's party took power until it reached 374.456 billion dollars at the end of December 2013 (Trade and Economy page, 01/02/2014). Erdogan wanted to address this situation by concluding trade agreements with Iran. These might benefit him in improving the vote percentage for the Justice and Development Party in the upcoming local elections, as some polling methods estimate the party's votes have dropped to 42%, and some have lowered it to 39% due to the deteriorating economic conditions following the corruption scandal, which Erdogan considered a coup attempt against his government.
Accordingly, the fundamental goal of this visit is an agreement on the political solution in Syria and preventing any effective orientation of the people of Ash-Sham toward ruling by Islam... Then, there is the wrapping of this basic goal with commercial acts to reduce embarrassment for Erdogan because he was hypocritically showing support for the Syrian revolution while Iran brutally supports Bashar. Erdogan does not want his visit to Iran to appear focused on conspiring against the Syrian revolution... Additionally, alongside this purpose, it creates a justification for financial commissions resulting from commercial business with Iran, claiming they are not bribes paid to those close to him, thereby lessening the scandal for them... and it creates movement in trade exchange between Iran and Turkey in hopes of improving the circumstances of the Justice and Development Party in the upcoming elections. But Erdogan has forgotten or pretended to forget that financial and political scandals resulting from walking in American projects are like the sun that cannot be covered with a sieve!
هَذَا بَلَاغٌ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيُنْذَرُوا بِهِ
"This [Quran] is a notification for the people that they may be warned thereby." (QS Ibrahim [14]: 52)