The 'Crescent North revisited

In my article published in TheNation on January 29, 2010, I had predicted the formulation of The Crescent North and rise of Islamic forces from Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and Central Asia. I had also argued that the West, confused by the rise of militant Islam in the Middle East, had initiated a 'long war by triggering a Shia-Sunni conflict based on the Iraqi model; not realising that recent history has already set in motion the winds of change, with epoch-making consequences, this time coming from the steppes of Asia or the Crescent North. The last few months have seen dramatic changes in the geopolitics of the region surrounding the Crescent North. On one of the strategic flanks of Crescent North, the US-led coalition has suffered serious setbacks in the so-called AfPak region; while on the western flank, Turkey has started unfolding its new foreign policy agenda with a big bang. The freedom flotilla episode certainly should not be taken as a minor issue; it is start of a new strategic process with long-term ramifications. In an article published in the New York Times (Middle East) on June 8, 2010, by Sabrina Tavernise from Ankara and Michael Slackman from Cairo, both have tried to downplay the effects of the freedom flotilla episode by labelling it as a minor incident. However, they have also felt the heat of Crescent North as: Turkey was one of the United States most pliable allies, a strategic border state on the edge of the Middle East that reliably followed American policy. But recently, it has asserted a new approach in the region, its words and methods as likely to provoke Washington as to advance its own interests. Commenting on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan, the authors express frustration: Mr Erdogan, though a pragmatist is also a devout Muslim, a category that was once the underdog in secular Turkish society, and sympathy for the Palestinians is ingrained. He is hot-headed, with a street fighters swagger that becomes more pronounced in crises. He took personal offence, for example, when Ehud Olmert, then Israels Prime Minister, began without warning the bombing of Gaza, while Mr Erdogan was mediating talks between Israel and Syria. The recent carnage in Kirghizia where Kirghiz was pitched against Uzbek to create a new commotion in Central Asia based on ethnicity and nationalism is another attempt to keep this central front of Crescent North in perpetual turmoil; it is high time for people of this wonderful region to ponder on the challenges and opportunities of present times. Where do we, the people and leadership of Crescent North, go from here; one way is to follow what most of the leadership of Middle East has done; do not rock the boat and maintain the status quo, become dominos and wait for our turn to fall in front of the Western agenda, while the other is to follow the Erdogan model of living and acting with dignity, and start forging new strategic relationships within. The US is the new 'sick man of history and it is time for it to leave the region with 'bag and baggage, of course it can be promised some face saving. Dr Iqbal had mentioned the forging of this inner relationship, when he desired and predicted that God Almighty would bestow the best of the best qualities of three leading Islamic nations to the future generation; these qualities include: the grandeur of the Turk, wisdom of the Hindi (read Pakistani) and eloquence of the Arab. Time has come for this prayer and prediction to become true. The writer is a freelance columnist.