Turkey manoeuvres over internal Saudi affairs draws condemnation

The Saudi Arabian government has decided to remove an old military fort Ajyaad to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims to the holy city of Makkah and proceed with the expansion of the area surrounding the Kaaba.

The fort was built by the Turks during the Ottoman empire. Some Turkish officials have objected to the Saudi decision and the Turkish media has also taken up the issue.

The Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) has supported the Saudi decision. In a statement, the organisation said the issue is an internal matter that concerns Saudi Arabia alone. In addition, Isesco said Ajyaad fort is not registered on the list of internationally renowned monuments.

The Arab press has also commented on the issue. Writing in Al Hayat (UK-based), Dawood Al Shuryan says the campaign by the Turkish press against Saudi Arabia aims at marketing the colonial legacy of Turkey when it ruled as an empire.

The campaign's aim, says Al Shuryan, is Turkey's attempt to divert world attention away from its human rights violations. Turkey is just exploiting the fort issue to serve its political agenda. Turkey has played an ugly role in destroying Kurdish heritage, torching their cities and changing the face of their history, says Al Shuryan.

Many questions are being raised as to why Turkey is being treated favourably by international organisations as far as its role in the region is concerned. United Nations' organisations and the Western media have completely ignored Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish people, says Al Shuryan.

Kurdish landmarks, six times more ancient than Turkey's existence in the Anadol and Kurdistan, were smashed. Turkey destroyed many of the region's historical monuments during its rule.

More than 200 ancient monuments including Kurdish statutes, forts and palaces, some of which were over 2000 years old, were decimated.

Al Shuryan says giving Ankara the benefit of the doubt in its campaign against Saudi Arabia is something it does not deserve.

It is not in Turkey's advantage to talk about what constitutes heritage because its violations exceeds that of the Israelis against Islamic monuments in Al Quds, says Al Shuryan.

The campaign's aim is clear, for Turkey knows very well that Ajyaad fort is no more than a colonial inheritance which does not need all this fuss. It is indeed a smear campaign for a political end, disguised under the cover of a cultural slogan, concludes Al Shuryan.

Such a view is also expressed by the editorial of Al Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The opposition to Saudi Arabia's decision, supported by attacks from the secular Turkish press, reveals Ankara's opportunism to reinforce the identity of a secular nation state, says the editorial. Today, the grandchildren of the Ottoman empire are adopting Turkish chauvinism in search of a Turkish world.

It is Turkey's right to demand that its Turkish monuments and not Islamic ones be protected. But modern Turkey came into existence 50 years after Ajyaad fort was built. It is, therefore, an Islamic monument and not Turkish, says the editorial. And, in any case, these monuments have been conserved and protected ever since the rule of King Abdulaziz in Saudi Arabia.

It is unfortunate, adds the editorial, that some Turkish officials and the Turkish media are seeking a comeback as a player in the Islamic world by making a mountain of a mole hill as it doing with the Ajyaad fort. It is a pity that they have forgotten what language to speak in when trying to communicate with the Islamic world.

Since they have forgotten the language, says the editorial, they have opted to use the Western language and speech and compare the Ajyaad issue with that of the Taliban's destruction of Buddhist statues. This is only indicative of how much Turkish politics has gone astray. Turkey wants to become a leader in the Islamic world, yet it is more European than the Europeans themselves, says the editorial.

In Turkey's quest for support from the superpowers, it has lost its direction - and this is pathetic, adds Al Riyadh's editorial. Turkey, in order to become more European, has forced students to remove their head scarves (hijaab) while French courts have granted the right of Muslim students to wear them in French schools. At the same time, Turkey presents itself as the sponsor of the interests of 120 million Muslims who are speakers of the Turkish language, says the editorial.

None of the Muslim nations has seen any of Turkey's actions as honourable to Islam. Turkey has made a strategic alliance with Israel and has expanded its relations with that country so that it's stances can affect the Muslim world, adds the editorial.

The campaign that Turkey has stirred in this case is only another attempt to force its power on the Muslim world. It is to market a new so called Islamic project by agitating against an issue - the Ajyaad fort, concludes the editorial.

The Al Jazeera (Saudi Arabia) editorial says there is a good reason behind the Saudi government's decision. Many houses and buildings that were owned by Saudi nationals have been removed due to the expansion project adjacent to the Kaaba. Everyone was compensated by the Saudi government. The goal is to accommodate the increasing numbers of worshippers to Makkah, says the editorial.

It should be clear then why the military fort of Ajyaad is being removed. But it is not understandable nor is it acceptable that the campaign against the Kingdom takes such a course, says the editorial. The attack against the action of the Saudi government touches directly on the country's sovereignty.

The Kingdom is only carrying out an action within its territorial boundaries, adds Al Jazeera.

Not a single party has any right to object in this case, especially since the decision does not infringe or violate any international agreement relating to the protection of historical monuments, says the editorial. The Saudi government has promised to rebuild the fort in another area in accordance with international agreements on protecting monuments which allow such a measure.

Saudi Arabia has continuously been compliant over the years with Turkish demands and requests to protect and preserve a number of Turkish monuments that exist on its soil, says the editorial. But, the government's recent decision justifiably is aimed at serving the needs of worshippers and the protection of the holiest place to over a billion Muslim, concludes the editorial.