Central Asia has become a new battleground between Israel and Türkiye. This is driven by Israel’s perception of Türkiye as the next obstacle after Iran to its plans for regional domination. The Zionist plan is to drive a wedge between Türkiye and other Central Asian countries by creating contrivances and pushing for the Israeli-influenced Aliyev government to assume the leadership role.
The first salvo was launched when Azerbaijan’s government effectively prohibited the wearing of hijabs at school. There followed a backlash among the Turkish and Azeri publics, with the Turkish government being officially noncommittal on the issue. Regardless, Aliyev tried to manufacture a crisis from this by falsely accusing the Turkish foreign minister of plotting a coup, by demanding Turkish citizens be deported or removed from public office, and blaming the episode on the Turkish government’s meddling in internal Azerbaijani affairs.
In retrospect, this gambit was designed to provoke a reaction from the Turkish government, creating unease in other Central Asian states toward the “political Islamist” and “tyrannical” Turkish government. When Aliyev failed to attend the Organization of Turkic States meeting, where leadership was passed to Erdoğan, he was isolated. This shows how the moderate reaction from the Turkish government caused Aliyev’s (and by extension, Israel’s) plan to backfire.
Simultaneously, social networks like X (Twitter) are amplifying every minor issue between the citizens of Türkiye and Central Asian states. This is done by algorithmically boosting the visibility of antagonistic accounts and posts, fueling animosity between the states. This mirrors Israel’s strategy of turning Turks against Arabs and demonizing Qatari investments in Türkiye. A similar strategy is employed in America, where right-wing politicians promise to outlaw Sharia, despite less than 2% of Americans being Muslims (an example of a narrative used to create fear and hatred around nonexistent issues).
The best strategy against these attacks is to practice moderation and understand that a hidden hand is trying to create discord. Their strategy failed to turn Turks against Arabs, paving the way for Syria’s liberation and the formation of the Mecca Alliance. Their strategy will also fail in Central Asia, where the Middle Corridor will empower Turkic countries and Zionist influence will be extinguished.
