ENGLAND'S GLOBAL MESSAGE THROUGH AFGHANISTAN

With the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, British soldiers also took their place in Afghanistan as part of NATO forces. British soldiers who remained in Afghanistan for 13 years were withdrawn from Afghanistan on October 27, 2014 with a government decision. However, 500 British soldiers were left in Afghanistan to take part in the training programs of Afghan soldiers. The British Defense Minister at the time, Michael Follon, stated in international press organizations that "they withdrew because they were convinced that the Afghan forces, which had reached 300 thousand, could provide their own security."

It was announced that a total of 140 thousand British soldiers served in Afghanistan between 2001-2014, that 453 of these soldiers lost their lives, and that 19 billion pounds were spent on operations in the Afghanistan field. It is known that Britain spent a great deal of money on the procurement of armored vehicles, mainly to prevent personnel losses. In addition, it is seen that when withdrawing in 2014, it left some military equipment and hardware, mostly armored vehicles, in Afghanistan because it calculated that it would increase the cost and “they were removed from the inventory as a war loss”. It was also explained that humanitarian aid expenses caused additional costs.

England did not come to Afghanistan for the first time with the 2001 invasion. England’s presence in the Afghanistan region dates back to the early 1800s.

It is seen that Dutch and Danish merchants established colonies in India immediately after the geographical discoveries. When English merchants saw the richness of India, they immediately turned to India and on December 31, 1600, they organized themselves under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I. The English forces responsible for protecting the merchants soon began to occupy India and headed north. During the same period, while Russia expanded to the East and China to the West, these three major states of the period clashed in the Afghanistan region and paved the way for a structure called an artificial Afghan Emirate. Because the historical name of this region is Southern Turkestan.

Shortly afterwards, the First Afghan-British War took place between 1839-1842, when the British East India Company and its protection troops and the Afghan Emirate came face to face. Although the British were seen as superior at first, the Afghan Emirate won the war. The most important result of this war was that the Indians, who saw that the British soldiers, who were thought to be invincible, could also be defeated, started the first Great Indian Revolt in 1857.

Russia, which won the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, turned eastward. The Russians, who encountered British merchants and soldiers who had simultaneously spread to Kabul, encouraged the Afghans to rebel against the British in 1879, and in the incidents that began, British General Pierre Cavagnari and his circle were killed by Afghan rebels. These incidents, which went down in history as the Second Afghan-British War, continued until 1880, with bloody clashes and ultimately ended with the British victory. However, the British, who realized that they could not hold on to the region, were forced to withdraw from the region with the Gandamak Treaty.

While the Anglo-Afghan War was taking place, the Russians occupied Turkmenistan in 1881 and became neighbors with Afghanistan. Although the British withdrew with the Gandamak Treaty, it is seen that the Emirate of Afghanistan could not become fully independent. Wanting to end this process that continued until 1919, Afghan Emir Amanullah Khan wrote a letter to the British Colonial Governor of India requesting recognition of their independence. However, the British rejected this request and launched a military operation in Afghanistan. In response to this move, the Third Afghan-British War took place between May 6 and August 8, 1919. The British lost this war and were forced to recognize Afghanistan's independence.

Afghanistan, which maintained its independence until 1979, began to experience internal turmoil towards the end of the 1970s and was finally invaded by Russia on December 24, 1979. It is estimated that 1.5 million people lost their lives during the Russian occupation that continued until February 15, 1989.

In the period between October 7, 2001 and August 15, 2021, Afghanistan was invaded by the US and NATO forces were soon present. With the US announcing that it will withdraw by the end of August 2021, NATO forces have also decided to withdraw.

While the withdrawal process is ongoing, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated in a statement on August 14, 2021 that “First of all, he shared the grief of the families of the 457 British military personnel killed in Afghanistan, and that the war was not in vain and that thanks to the efforts of the British armed forces, there have been no Al Qaeda attacks against the West for a very long time.” Johnson also gave a message with the words; “What we can absolutely do is to work with all our partners in the region and the world who have an interest in preventing Afghanistan from becoming a hotbed of terrorism again.”

As can be understood from these statements of Johnson, although England is not actually seen in Afghanistan, it shows that its interest in the region will continue in the international arena. Therefore, England has essentially maintained its relations and contacts with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan since the late 1600s. However, when China's activities in these countries are taken into account, it is understood that a struggle between England and China will occur after a while and its intensity will increase over time.

The Bipolar World System, which was built under the leadership of the USA and Russia after World War II, ended with the controlled disintegration of Russia in the late 1980s. Although the USA acted as the sole world leader for a short while, Russia, which recovered in a short time, made a comeback, it is a fact that it lost its former influence. However, although it is not like the old system, the effort to be dominant with the USA continues. However, it has begun to be seen that their era is coming to an end and it is coming to light that a new world system is being built under the leadership of China and England as the game-setting powers.

A design process is being experienced in a new world system with China on the eastern wing and England on the western wing. In fact, it should not be ignored that England left the European Union in order to be able to move comfortably in this process. Therefore, if the background of England's Brexit vote is looked at from this perspective, the English game will be better understood.

England makes it felt that it is a silent and deep global power and that it is slowly emerging on the stage of history to reassume the role it handed over to the USA in 1945. The UK, which is the head of a system consisting of 37 countries called the British Commonwealth, is governed by the British Royal Family, 16 of which are governed by the British Royal Family. This community is a natural and tremendous power with a population of 2.5 billion.

As a result;

It should be considered that the people of Syria and Afghanistan were deliberately displaced within the New World System. Because it should be remembered that these areas were emptied for the infrastructure of the new world system. However, more importantly, it is foreseen that the Turkish States will also rise as the third power within the new world system that is being built. It is also evaluated that the current natural leader of the Turkish States will be Türkiye due to its past history.

Therefore, in order to prevent this situation in the coming years, the decision-making mechanisms should definitely consider that Türkiye is exposed to an influx of immigrants and refugees. Because it should be remembered that there is no guarantee that the immigrants and refugees who come/are sent will not be organized by the same powers who sent them and directed to internal turmoil, attacks, sabotage or even rebellions in the countries they are in in the coming years.

As a final word; Türkiye needs real policies rather than acting emotionally, and real policies are a priority in international relations.