Opinion News Analysis by Tala Majzoub, Staff Writer

November 5th, 2020

Lebanon’s fragile sectarian balance has left different sects seeking refuge and leadership from foreign players. In light of this fragmentation, rival regional and global powers are competing for ascendancy. Saudi Arabia and Gulf states have more or less conceded the country to the Iranians, content to allow Iran and its local proxies to loom large in a country with a collapsing economy and infrastructure. This has paved the way for Turkey to position itself as the “protector of the Sunnis” in the region, as it seeks to leverage both its Sunni Islamist credentials to appeal to Sunni Arab populations, and where relevant its Turkic ethnicity to appeal to Turkic remnant populations in the Levant. Considerable and solid evidence indicates that in Lebanon, a similar pattern is being followed by Turkey.

Indirect Political Hegemony

The Kurdish Center for Strategic Studies has issued a report, indicating the imminent danger surrounding the Lebanese city of Tripoli and its people. The report’s headline is: That’s How Turkey Prepares to Occupy Lebanon’s Tripoli and Its People. In its first statement, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi, does not deny the the intervention of foreign parties aiming to destabilize the country. The minister said that four Turkish and two Syrians were on board of an aircraft that arrived in Lebanon from Turkey with USD 4 million in cash, being investigated after entering Lebanon. They claimed to be owners of a money exchange company. “We do not know whether these funds are for smuggling and manipulating the dollar prices, or to fuel violent movements in the street. Additionally, some instructions come from Turkey via WhatsApp to some parties in the popular movement,” the minister said. Another statement came from a northern religious leader, who has long history in political work. He said in a private meeting: “All countries, people and apparatuses need months and perhaps years to occupy Tripoli by force or by love, except for Turkey and Erdogan. They need one minute! Once Turkey’s Erdogan decides, he will have overwhelming popular support for his decision.” “Erdogan, thanks to his media and political performance, has occupied the hearts and minds of Tripoli people who have undergone a long journey to find a leader. While everyone is absent, the task will be easier for Erdogan,” the religious leader adds.

Turkey has also resorted to all-too-familiar methods to gain influence, ones that it first used in Iraq and to better effect in Syria. It is arming its murderers and mercenaries who have wreaked havoc on Syria and today in Libya. Turkey has built a solid political base in the northern Lebanese cities of Tripoli and Akkar. According to a report issued by the pro-Saudi Al Arabiya website, officials in Lebanon are wary of the increased indications of Turkish efforts to build strength and influence in the country. The report quoted two sources in Lebanese intelligence, who mentioned recent Turkish efforts to bring weapons into northern Lebanon. “We are pretty worried about what’s going on. The Turks are sending an incredible amount of weapons into the north”. In this regard, informed security sources report "the emergence of a person called Abu Ahmed Al-Qadi, linked to the Turkish security services, and it is even worse that the Lebanese security services are aware of his armed group that is based in Ayyun al-Samak in northern Lebanon as its headquarters. Its 250 militants hold fake Lebanese passports.” The information adds, "Some of these militants belonging to the Abu Ahmed Al-Qadi group are heading to participate in the wars in Azerbaijan and Libya, where Turkish expansion projects are active." The same sources pointed out, "Turkey is playing a dangerous game by granting nationalities to Sunni groups in the north, sometimes under the pretext that some of them belong to the Turkmen ethnicity, and at other times on the pretext that they are of Turkish origin, and the number of those who have obtained Turkish citizenship has reached more than 50,000.” This blatant foreign aggression is exactly how Turkey started a war in Syria, by infiltrating the country through its mercenaries and supplying them with weapons.

Turkey’s Charitable Hand

After the explosion, Vice President of Turkey Fuat Oktay was quick to visit Lebanon after French President Macron’s departure. “Turkey will go with Lebanon to the end”. Turkey did not waste the economic opportunity presented by the Beirut port being out of commission, and was quick to enhance the role of the port in Tripoli on one hand, and to offer the Port of Mersin and the Iskenderun Port for customs clearance and warehousing as alternatives on the other hand. With the Beirut seaport out of service and the limited capacity of the port of Tripoli for receiving large container ships makes Mersin port one of the main candidates as a handling port, especially with the international ban on Syrian ports. In his recent visit to Lebanon after the Beirut explosion, Vice President Fuat Oktay maintains that "Turkey’s relations were never based on colonialism or exploiting the resources of others. This is also the case here: We have a win-win relation," indicating that Turkey sees one country when it looks to Lebanon without differentiating between its Shiites, Sunnis or Christians, "We do not approach the issue based on ethnicity and religions as France and other countries do." 400 years of Ottoman rule in Lebanon prove otherwise, as the complex web of factors indicate that colonial and post-colonial powers in Lebanon played a massive role in stimulating the deeply-rooted sectarianism in Lebanon. 

Nonetheless, Turkey’s neo-colonialism takes various shapes, ranging from military control to humanitarian, educational and economic aid. An article by Firas al-Shoufi in the pro-Hezbollah Al Akhbar newspaper summed up the situation in the following terms: “Turkish activity in Lebanon takes many forms, all leading in one direction, which is to strengthen Turkish influence among the Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, specifically in the north.” Shoufi named specific social welfare projects undertaken by the Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination (TIKA) in the Tripoli and Akkar areas, such as “opening roads, digging wells for drinking and irrigation water and providing food aid.” TIKA also been active in repairing hospitals, providing aid and recently restoring the Othman Bin Affan Mosque in Beirut. A prominent Lebanese politician described Turkish presence in Lebanon as rather sizable and important in light of the presence of a number of charities supported by Ankara, especially in Tripoli, the capital of northern Lebanon. However, President of the Lebanese Turkmen Association, Ahmed Turkmani, does not deny that the association gets financial support from the Turkish embassy, ​​but he claims that the aid is educational, and it is represented in scholarships in Turkish universities, but he refuses to talk about direct financial support. This begs the question, what is the goal of the Turkish expansion, whether under social or educational pretexts? 

Protector of the Sunnis

Turkey’s role as protector of Sunni Muslims in the world took off with the transforming of the Hagia Sophia Church into a mosque. President Erdogan seems keen on projecting himself as the sole protector of Islam, especially as he condemns the Gulf States for failing to defend the holy sites and for negotiating with Israel, at a time when Turkey was the first Islamic country to recognize Israel in 1949, a few months after its establishment. That’s not to mention the president’s remarks on the recent events surrounding Charlie Hebdo’s caricature of Prophet Mohammad, where Erdogan calls for Macron to have a “mental check” for “treating millions of members from different faith groups (Islam) this way”. He also instigated the boycotting of French products in Ankara and the Islamic world. 

In Lebanon, especially with the absence of Saudi Arabia’s political role, Ankara seeks to fill the Arab void in the country. Riyadh has stopped providing economic aid to Lebanon and downgraded its diplomatic mission in Beirut, as a result of dissatisfaction with political developments in Lebanon, and a growing concern over Hezbollah’s hegemony in the country. This decision to withdraw from Lebanon paved the way for Ankara to position itself as the “protector of the Sunnis”. In fact, a large portion of the Future Movement officials, namely mayors and mayors in the north, are rushing towards Turkey, with the absence of any Saudi or Emirati vision of the Lebanese file, and their limited support based on in-kind and financial aid, instead of embedding sustainable projects in the Turkish methodology.

Turkey’s activities appear to be taking place at the grassroots level, and to be centered around the northern city of Tripoli, an urban center for the Lebanese Sunni population. As such, the area is a natural focus for Turkey. Sunni politicians believe that Turkey is seeking to achieve wide encroachment into Lebanon and to “represent the Sunni community” by sponsoring several Islamic societies and investing in the restoration of old buildings, with a special focus on those reminiscent of the Ottoman era. The Turkish embassy in Beirut is also active in searching for Lebanese of Turkish and Turkmen descent, to encourage them to obtain Turkish citizenship.

“We are told that history does not repeat itself, yet it has a remarkable knack for re-actualizing past events and scenes. In this sense, the present serves sometimes to elucidate the past”

-       Fawaz Traboulsi, A History of Modern Lebanon (2007)

It is pivotal to take Turkey’s generous donations and peculiar savior acts with a grain of salt. The fact that the issue of Turkish involvement was able to raise joint concerns of channels affiliated with both, Saudi Arabia (Al Arabiya), and Iran/ Hezbollah (Al Akhbar), indicate that Sunni Islamist Turkey is seeking to fill the vacuum. Turkey finds in Tripoli an easy target, especially with the prominent Turkish ancestry in the North and the poverty-stricken nature of the area. Unfortunately, the sectarian quest for a foreign leader in Lebanon comes to once again exemplify the lack of Lebanese nationalism, which stopped being the constituent/ official ideology after independence in 1943. For many years now, each sect has identified nationalism according to the dictates of its community chief, political party, and sectarian orientations. Today, Turkey is preparing to capitalize on the absence of a unifying identity in Lebanon. Turkey is slithering its way back into the North.