Dear Prime Minister

An Open Letter to Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Dear Prime Minister Erdogan,

It is with the greatest respect for you that I acknowledge what I perceive of the complex and dangerous minefield you must traverse on a daily basis in order to continue in your efforts to lead Turkey at this most critical moment and to steer the ship of State across threatening geopolitical currents. It is, therefore, in apprehension of the treacherous reefs that your rivals and opponents long to see you founder upon, that I venture firstly to convey my sincere hope for your continued safety, and also, if you will excuse my forwardness, volunteer myself to you as a marker buoy for certain dangers that lie in wait for you.

Before going further, I must mention that I first visited Turkey in 1996 as part of a delegation that came to attend a conference in Istanbul, and was, in fact, your guest at a dinner given by you as Mayor of that most noble and beautiful city. Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity on that memorable occasion to thank you personally for your generous hospitality.

It was during this visit that Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi presented the Islamic Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham to the recently deceased Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, the newly elected Prime Minister of Turkey. I had the opportunity to visit again the following year and recall doing a live radio interview on a student-run station. In 1996 Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir had numerous invitations to speak and of all the places offered, he chose Bosphorus University, acknowledged at the time as the most prestigious secular university in the country. Shaykh Abdalqadir presented a major paper, subsequently published under the title of The Return of The Khalifate. The result of his discourse was thunderous applause and excitement as young men and women rushed forward to meet and greet the Shaykh. A series of smaller gatherings took place and, as mentioned, a second visit was made the following year.

I hope you will permit me, respectfully, to make one or two observations regarding the late Dr. Erbakan, whose dignified, gentlemanly and urbane demeanour exemplified the innate courtesy of the Turkish people. The difficulties he experienced in forming a majority government are, I am sure, better known to you than to me. A coalition had to be formed and it was to Tansu Çiller that he turned. She had, as you know, two options open to her. The first was to face criminal charges of fraud, which according to Turkish law she could not be prosecuted for if in office, or to team up with a declared political enemy. History has recorded that she chose the latter. It was a sensible move by her and a politically strategic one by Dr. Erbakan. Nevertheless, she wasted not one minute in sowing the seeds of discord within the Turkish Administration. Whilst reiterating that you will know far more of the Machiavellian intrigues and machinations that ensued, I find the first two official State visits that the new Prime Minister made worthy of some attention.

The Prime Minister went to Iran, a country that was already fixed within the crosshairs of the Pentagon. It is common knowledge that Iran is run by a cadre of Shias, and it is not disputed that the Shias split off as a faction from the body politic (Ummah) of the Muslims many centuries ago. The etymological root of the Arabic word shi’ah, which they adopted as a name for themselves, indicates that which splits away. Their religion openly slanders the noble Companions of the Prophet, as well as his wife Aisha and declares as non-believers numerous people that were promised the Garden in the Hereafter, either in Qur’an or on the tongue of the blessed Messenger. It also sanctions the practice of taqi’a, permitting them to resort to dissemblance and concealment of their true beliefs and motives whenever it suits them to do so.

Then there are the Ismailis, an even more radical sect within the Shia religion, who established suicide assassination as a tactic to be seen not only valid, but laudable. Any form of suicide is against the teaching of Islam, not to mention the killing of innocent victims who are written off as collateral damage. It is of the utmost importance that the most knowledgeable specialists upon whom you rely to inform your position on these matters provide you with the means to take up a clear and unequivocal stance on this. Of course, Iran is your neighbour, possibly a valuable trading partner, and therefore, a détente must be maintained to secure a safe border with them.

It is now fifteen years on since the late Dr. Erbakan made that visit. What was he thinking? What did he imagine the response of the Turkish military and his other enemies within the country would be? Lacking the advantage of your proximity to the circumstances, certainly the wisdom of hindsight persuades me that it was a fatal lack of political acumen that allowed Dr. Erbakan to choose that destination as one of his first official tours. Iran is still under the aim of the Pentagon for a possible military strike, but given that the US is presently embroiled in two unwinnable wars, and that Iran has gained ascendancy as the major power broker in nearly all Mid-Eastern affairs, it is my view that the US is prepared, despite Israel’s protestations, to jump into bed with Iran as a temporary strategic convenience. Please sir, do not get caught between them, because that is precisely what is now being asked of you!

The second country he visited was Libya, a profitable ‘petrol station’ that was of considerable value to BP and certain American oil companies, run by a man I am convinced was clinically mad (although I am not a qualified psychiatrist). There was all the vitriolic rhetoric between Libya and the US during the Reagan years, but, as I was informed by reliable sources, business between the two countries was at its all time best. As you know, recent events have resulted in the disgraceful murder of Colonel Gaddafi, backed by a pro democracy contingent that was funded by the very same people who had allowed him to remain in power for over forty years. Once more, sir, please do not be drawn into the maelstrom of a hostile corporate takeover of a country’s oil wealth masked as part of a fantasy that was first launched on Facebook as ‘The Arab Spring’.

From my relatively distant perspective, the choice of these two countries by Dr. Erbakan suggests a lack of understanding of the political arena into which he had entered. When the military threatened to roll tanks through the streets he, being a man of honour and one with true concern for the welfare of the Turkish people, stepped aside. If only Osama Bin Laden had followed this example of how a true Muslim leader behaves - instead of choosing to remain in Afghanistan when it was clear that his presence there would rain down death and destruction upon the brave people of that country.

Leaving the past and what mistakes were made, it is of the utmost exigency that you have a clear view of the political terrain that is open before you. Syria is a quagmire, with its citizens being slaughtered by the Assad regime, as they, like lemmings, are going to their deaths. What do they want? Do they want to be Greece? Similar to the situation with Iran Turkey is being asked to serve as a broker on behalf of those countries that have a geopolitical interest in the region. Egypt has gone from bad to worse, as now it is reported that the military, called in to maintain calm while the new democratic government has time to organise, is proving more brutal than under Mubarak. You must know that after Israel, Egypt receives more US aid than any other country. So who kept a rabid dog in power and made him rich? The same ones that funded the ‘spontaneous revolution’ to usher in a new era of democracy.

From Nasser to Sadat to Mubarak; each one worse than the one they succeeded. And all the while who has been lurking in the background, pretending to be this secret organisation - that everyone knows about, including who its leaders are? Of course, I refer to the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen. In all the years of their recreant existence what have they ever accomplished but shameful defeat and the sending of misguided young men to their graves? Meanwhile, their leadership have occupied lucrative government positions in the countries they secretly denounce as kafir. Where are they? Egypt, Jordan, the oil-rich Gulf States and Turkey! When you trace their antecedents you arrive at the door of Muhammad Abduh, the late nineteenth century founder of Islamic Modernism in Egypt, who, despite his vituperative railing against British imperialism was, according to Lord Cromer, referred to as ‘our friend Abduh’ and ‘most likely an agnostic’ who would help put in place all of the pro British initiatives, including a fatwa to allow the Post Office Bank, with its ‘moderate’ interest rates, to operate in Egypt. After him came Rashid Rida and the disasters of the 20^th century that opened the way for the Ikhwan. Weed them out of Turkey! Be sure to get to the roots and not just the stems.

Before proceeding further, I must reiterate my high regard for you and the assiduousness you have applied to the task before you. Being at the forefront of your country’s undoubted political progress, and importantly her commercial vigour, you have genuinely helped your people and consequently expanded your support base. Whether Turkey is admitted into the EU or not (you are more aware of that than I), what has been most telling is your indefatigable resolve to bring Turkish goods to the world marketplace. A leader that actually helps his own people: what an anomaly in today’s political environment!

Equally commendable has been your consummate handling of the hard-core nationalists who have persisted in maintaining an acrimonious attitude towards the Kurdish people within Turkey. You have opened a direct dialogue with them. You have permitted the use of Kurdish in local political affairs, allowed it to be taught in schools and used on regional radio stations. They are a minority with a distinct culture and language that are part of Turkey. Most significantly they are Muslim people, brothers and sisters in Islam. A weapon against you and your government has been taken away from your enemies in Europe and at home.

Please permit me to speak of friendship. One must chose one’s friends carefully. The last Shah of Iran sat at the family dining room table in the White House of five consecutive American presidents. I do not refer to State dinners but family meals. The Shah and his wife were on intimate terms with those presidents and their families. When the writing was on the wall, and it was clear that the Shah would fall, not one of them would take his calls. He flew around and around in his private luxury jet running out of fuel with no one allowing him to land. The decision was that it would be imprudent to be seen backing a loser, and better to come to some form of amenable terms with the ‘fellow in the turban’ who was being flown in from Paris. Now, that’s how they treat their friends! Let me also turn to the case of Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, a staunch anti-communist and recipient of lavish amounts of US aid that he and his wife lavishly spent on themselves. When it was obvious that he would not last the latest uprising and that a newly elected democratic leader, Corazon Aquino, would be president, his friends deserted him. Basta! As they say in Italian.

The last matter I want to raise with you is that of finance. At the moment Turkey is running on a high. Ten years ago Ireland had the fastest growing economy in Europe and Dublin was a boomtown with a bonanza of new money pouring in.

A Nation

That Will Not

Get itself Into Debt

Drives The Usurers

To Fury

The above quote is by Ezra Pound from his prose work The Enemy Is Ignorance.

Ezra Pound took as the warp and woof of his masterwork, The Cantos, the theme of usury or usura as he wrote it. He made war on riba! They severely punished him for it and have never forgotten or forgiven him for what he wrote and spoke. He was put in a wire cage at an American detention centre in Pisa, and then extradited to the United States on charges of treason. He was denied the right of habeas corpus, and spent over eleven and a half years in a mental hospital in Washington, D.C. for the criminally insane. That is what was done to the most important English speaking poet of the twentieth century.

Returning to the twenty-first century you must be fully aware of the generous line of credit being offered to Turkey. Your economy we are told is one of the few that is growing and doing well. Think of this line of credit as a rope. There is an anecdote taken directly from a chronicler during the time of Louis XV of France: “And we saw the King walking in the garden with his Jew...” “The bank supports the State like the rope supports a hanging man”.

The banks are not defeated by attacking them. Berlusconi refused to sign the austerity measures bill demanded by the banks to ‘restore confidence in Italy’s finances’. Overnight he was gone. He has been replaced by Mario Monti, the previous Minister of Economy and Finance. He is openly a member of the Bilderberg Group as well as chairman of the Trilateral Commission, the influential think-tank founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller. He has also been a key advisor to Goldman Sachs. Italians were seen dancing in the streets after Berlusconi was forced to step down, as people shouted “clown, clown, clown”. We will hear a different chant when Monti signs the austerity bill, which he will; he is a banker.

In 1965 a recalcitrant Achmed Sukarno had the temerity to throw the IMF and World Bank out of Indonesia. In 1966 a CIA backed initiative was put into motion to overthrow him and place General Suharto in power. All of Indonesia’s vast natural resources were handed to US, UK and Australian multi-nationals, the IMF were welcomed back, and Suharto undertook the task, under the cover of being anti-communist, of carrying out the worst cases of torture and genocide against his own people. The US and others simply looked the other way.

I remind you again of what Ezra Pound wrote. You defeat them (drive them to fury) by not needing them. Your customary politeness and cordiality is a shield. Courtesy was the hallmark of the best of mankind. And he, God bless him and cover him with peace, also said, “Strategy is part of warfare”. The astonishing advances you have made so far for your people were not accomplished in a day, and lately we have seen how much can be destroyed overnight. However, a great opportunity awaits you and the Turkish people, and as Pound also said, quoting Confucius: Make It New!

I thank you very much for your valuable time, and pray for your continued success and safety - for you and all of the people of Turkey. Certainly, we must want this for all people around the world in need of the good news - as well as the warning.

Yours truly,

Robert Luongo

Pre-Graduation Day

There is the need to record an event, to put down in words, so as not to forget something, something of importance. From it may very well come an understanding, even if much later, within which one can find benefit. Homer had such a need and we are grateful to him for it. We have The Iliad and The Odyssey.

There was firstly Homer’s narrative poem; to which my approach was then deepened through The Cantos of Ezra Pound; and more recently Odysseus (or Ulysses as he was known to the Romans) makes a guest appearance in Shakespeare, whose political plays are the theme of the subject I teach at a college in South Africa. Presently I am reading a fascinating study by Barbara Reynolds of the Italian poet, political thinker and the man, Dante, who lived from 1469-1527; and who should show up in her book but the celebrated Greek general, who served under King Agamemnon, and not without trepidation and intense daring managed to survive a terrible war, and after a long and arduous journey finally makes his way home to his wife, Penelope, their son and an ageing father. When he arrived he found his homestead in Ithaca infested by property developers, speculators and bankers, all wanting to convert his land into a housing estate. As the potential for profit was enormous they had been besieging his wife day and night, all the while feasting on her husband’s food and drinking his wine, in hopes of their imminent gain if she would simply sign the papers and seal the deal. By all accounts Odysseus was presumed to have perished, dead, either in battle or upon his return journey. It would simply be better all around if she sold.

There is not a general consensus as to the inherent character of the 13^th century BC mythical figure, for some have portrayed him as a cunning Machiavellian who drove his men not only in war, but also into dangerous detours, exploiting their desire for both fame and riches, while others have depicted him far more favourably and heroically. It is worthy of note that he and his son Telemachus unsheathed their swords against those that were intent on obtaining his property, killing them all, except for those that managed to escape with their tails curled between their legs: a fair warning to modern day bankers and speculators. It seems certain that I’ll never be a ‘proper’ academic, maintaining that detached and distinguished objectivity. Not, of course, that they ever forget who signs their pay cheques. Academia operates by corporate sponsorship, which along with major banks and financial institutions are the largest contributors to the arts and sciences within both private and state universities.

This past Thursday was the last day of formal classes at Dallas College, and we were all honoured that the founder, Dr. Dallas, whose name the college bears (also known to all of us as Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi) came and delivered an address to the students and faculty. A third year student, who is hafiz of Qur’an, recited the first part of Al-Baqara to begin the morning programme.

Dallas College, established in 2005, was created to produce future leaders - as well as those capable of recognising such men, pledging their allegiance and serving them by whatever means and expertise they have obtained. It was said to me a short time ago by our Chancellor, who is not only a prominent attorney from Johannesburg but most importantly an indefatigable supporter of the college: “Not all of our graduates will become leaders, but none of them will ever be led astray”.

The central theme of Dr. Dallas’s address was the study of history as a means of making sense of the time in which one is living. He made mention of Sir Roland Syme’s magisterial work: The Roman Revolution, and also Thucydides’s classic: The Peloponnesian War. Speaking directly to the students, all of whom are in their late teens and early twenties, he spoke about what lies ahead in a world that is rapidly changing and with it new challenges that await them.

Dr. Dallas made mention of a recently aired television docudrama on the Second World War. It was mostly comprised of black and white footage from the 1930s, ‘40s and early ‘50s, all of which had been converted into technicolour and had added a dramatic and “rather vulgar” sound track. The effect was that history had been repackaged like a Hollywood movie and presented in a manner in which an ideological overview was superimposed upon what were the “undeniably terrible events” of a war and the unconscionable things that occurred during it. From this I understood that the message being impressed upon the viewers was that one and only one choice remains for peace and prosperity in the world. It is marketed as the freedom of democracy.

He then spoke of human anxieties, like that of the safety of one’s family, the quality of education for our children, or the crime rate in the places we live, but also included the unavoidable anxiety of, for example, the impending financial crisis in Greece, with a referendum passed into law by politicians that the people adamantly reject, and similar such cases in Spain, Portugal and Britain, all of which have seen thousands of angry protesters in the streets of their major cities. Breaking news from around the world crashes in, even in this most southern tip of Africa, and you are made to feel helpless. Although not directly stated by Dr. Dallas, what I understood is that we are repeatedly told on a daily basis that more credit is the only solution to stimulate a flagging world economy, which the banks are willing to provide, obviously tied to strict austerity measures to assure the minimal expenditure on unprofitable social welfare programmes, while concentrating instead on programmes aimed at sustainable debt repayment. Democratically elected governments will assure that their debtor citizenry will pay.

Another example was provided to the gathering that on face value was rather humorous, but upon closer examination, if reflected upon, something serious. He spoke of a man who suffered from a delusion that he was a grain of wheat. After a period of intensive psychotherapy the patient was cured, as he now knew he was not a grain of wheat but a man, and was released from hospital. It was only a day later that the very same man came banging on the hospital doors demanding to be let in. When the doctors opened the doors for him they could only exclaim that he had been cured, that he knew he was not a grain of wheat but a man! He replied, “Yes, but do the chickens know?” There is a shared perception of what ‘reality’ is, and it is broadcast to all of us via Internet, TV, film, cinema and printed media. I could grasp that not only must one understand and decode the nature of events, that more often than not function as smokescreens that obfuscate rather than clarify what is taking place, but also the need to recognise the contextualised world view in which others are led to believe in them.

Dr. Dallas brought his most inspiring talk to a close, as he submitted the entire matter to what is the Truth, and in so doing specifically referred to Tawhid (the Oneness of Existence) and that all power belongs to Allah. Then admitting that his Latin was no longer what it once was, he deferred to our Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Azzali, a scholar in Medieval History who graduated from the University of Parma, and also our lecturer in Roman History, for confirmation of a word in that ancient language. Dr. Dallas had, in fact, got it right. We ended with everyone reciting Al-Fatiha.

The morning’s event finished with coffee and cakes, with the Vice-Chancellor and the third year graduates having the special privilege of sitting with the Shaykh.

The final examinations will be starting shortly.

Everything moves on. The academic year has been a success and, moreover, as well as being included in this most auspicious college for the past seven years, I have been most fortunate that what I embarked upon in the summer of 1970 when I first met this unique man of his time, has been a most remarkable journey: truly an odyssey! What is of the utmost of importance is to see that the Shaykh is a guide, he indicates the way, which he also embodies. Nevertheless, he has never allowed anyone to make this affair about him. About this he is most adamant. And what has he personally said to me? “Follow him [the Messenger] / so that hopefully you will be guided,” (Al-A’raf). Dr. Dallas turned 81 this past autumn while I am nineteen years younger. I do think it a fair assessment that I am no longer young, although in no way do I concede to being old. After ten years in Cape Town, it is quite probable that he will return to Europe. For myself, I have been here going on eleven years, far longer than I had ever thought I would be. Nevertheless, the college remains based in Cape Town, and while I could, of course, be replaced, for now my work is here. Therefore, this year is also a kind of graduation for me. It has taken me a terribly long time, but having been shown a way must now embark on another kind of journey.

Odysseus lived to a ripe old age. He planted his oar on a hillside overlooking the sea. Such extraordinary times!

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Robert Luongo’s new book: The Power Template: Shakespeare’s Political Plays is available in paperback through Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and also from Kindle Direct as an ebook. You can also visit: www.thepowertemplate.com