Press Release
Obama's visit to Turkey may be rich in symbolism but offers little change in policy

US President Barack Obama has arrived  in Turkey on a trip aimed at salvaging America‘s  ruined  reputation in the Muslim world, yet it  looks increasingly clear that the visit, though  rich in gestures and symbolism, offers no real change from Bush's failed and destructive policies.

 Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain said "Obama's trip is vital to the United States as it seeks Turkey's help in Iraq and seeks to add tens of thousands of additional troops to support NATO's failing Afghan campaign."

"Yet a question remains: How should Turkey proceed when America has thousands of troops still in the Middle East and Afghanistan, where pipeline and energy politics are becoming more intense, where a belligerent Israel continues warmongering in the region and where the west and Russia are engaged in a 21^st century recreation of the great game in Central Asia?

 "More and more Muslims in Turkey are now directly challenging Mustafa Kemal's disastrous legacy, where it still remains a crime to insult  Kemal's memory. But until now, Turkey shackled in its Kemalist straitjacket,  has repeatedly failed to meet these challenges under successive regimes despite the sincerity of its citizens."

"Our  message  is very simple

1. Turkey's government should abandon the Kemalist path it is pursuing and its naïve EU membership bid and instead work to foster political unity in the wider Islamic world i.e. a Khilafah "Caliphate" (Hilafet) that unites all Muslims.

2. Turkey should not allow the Obama administration to use it as a pawn to achieve US regional objectives in Iraq, Central Asia and Afghanistan. It is the only state in the Islamic Countries that has forces in Afghanistan and therefore provides a fig leaf for a brutal western occupation.

3. Turkey should abandon the NATO alliance, an organisation that is determined to occupy Muslim lands and whose new Secretary General is on record as having supported the Danish cartoons that insulted our beloved Prophet Muhammed (saw).

4. Turkey should end its military and diplomatic relationships with Israel. Instead of trying to mediate between Syria and Israel, Turkey - and other Muslim countries - should be standing up to the Israeli occupier militarily as opposed to its continuous repetition of empty rhetoric.

5. Turkey should not fall into the trap of believing that the only path to modernity and prosperity is secular democracy. The Muslim world when it implemented Islam in its entirety and was united was a giant in global affairs. It led in science, prosperity, health care and was responsible for dragging Europe out of the dark ages."

"Some  may believe that such a strategy will take Turkey back a hundred years, but where has Kemalism  taken  Turkey? After 85 years, European states still look down on Turkey and sneer at its progress while the IMF continues to finance its economy."

"Turkey has considerable economic potential, has key strategic waterways and energy resources, it has a large and growing population and has a powerful military. A strong Turkey is a critical component if unified with the rest of the Islamic world to create a new transnational Khilafah "Caliphate" (Hilafet) state to meet head on the major powers of the 21st century."

 "We call upon the Muslims of Turkey to work to establish this khilafah in the Muslim world and works to remove the influence of the colonial occupying powers from the Muslim lands."

Hizb ut Tahrir Britain