[Asharq al-Aswat] The entry of Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] Peninsula Shield Forces into Bahrain is not another [battle of] Karbala [a battle which took place in 680 AD between Prophet Muhammad's grandson Husain Ibn Ali and his army and the military forces of Umayyad Caliph Yazid I], as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited last week.| The people of Bahrain are not all Shiites, for there are Sunnis there as well as Shiites, and the foundation of any country is based upon citizenship, rather than sectarian affiliation. |
Rather this deployment is in order to prevent another battle of Karbala, which would see the children of the same country fighting against one another. The people of Bahrain are not all Shiites, for there are Sunnis there as well as Shiites, and the foundation of any country is based upon citizenship, rather than sectarian affiliation.
But the ruling family and the people in power are all Sunnis. | The people who aren't, they're Shiites. The latter find this annoying; the former find this the natural order. Of such things are revolutions eventually made. |
Erdogan's statement about the deployment of the Peninsula Shield Force threatening "a new [battle of] Karbala inciting division between Mohammedans" is an over-simplification and can be easily disproved. This is because it was the King of Bahrain who initiated reforms and empowered the Shiites in his country. However it is also the King of Bahrain's duty not just to strengthen Bahrain's Shiite community, but also to protect the country's Sunni community, and not allow Bahrain to be subject to sectarian extortion. Instead of issuing this statement, the Turkish Prime Minister should warn the President of Iran of the consequences of interfering in the internal affairs of a peaceful Gulf State like Bahrain, as well as the consequences of Tehran ignoring the rights of Iran's Sunni community. This is what will ensure that there is not another battle of Karbala, with this battle not potentially occurring in the Gulf, but rather on Iranian soil. The people of the Gulf are not known for transgressing the limits with regards to one social component intimidating another, and the Arab Gulf enjoys a strong history that attests and supports this.
Those who believe that Erdogan is acting in this regard according to Turkey's commercial interests are wrong. Erdogan is defending Qadaffy despite all the crimes that the Libyan leader has committed against his own people, whilst he was previously one of the first world leaders to criticize the Hosni Mubarak |