Nations are not forged by hands but by history. They are not corroded by the fist of a foreigner but by the wolves within.

The news shows Süleyman Soylu visiting a CHP stand, to everyone's surprise. Shouldn't it be normal for a former Minister of Interior to shake hands with an opposition citizen? For some reason, it's not. Meanwhile, I know why what's deemed "extraordinary" because I'm reading Timur Soykan's book "Baron Invasion."

"Invasion" suggests something seized from the outside. On the contrary, the "baron invasion" involves no coercion. Soykan's book reveals the invasion occurred with the door opened from within, barons being invited, and even protected. Thus, the assembly of the world's mafia in Turkey, from New Zealand to Montenegro, is courtesy of the internal government. Both the reasons and the consequences are political.

Let me explain with an example from the book...

THE "KURDISH FOX" WHO FORGOT HIS BAG

We read it in the news. On the morning of April 15, 2022, in Marmaris, municipal worker Ali Eren found a bag while cleaning the park. The bag contained $12,400 and 2,400 Turkish liras. Honest and impoverished, Ali Eren handed it over to the police, who found its owner. It belonged to Miran Othman, an Iraqi Kurd living a lavish life in Marmaris.

Othman's situation was so odd...

It seemed he was unhappy about the bag being found. He didn't even want a photo taken for the celebration.

This odd behavior caught the attention of Marmaris police. Tracking Othman's fingerprints, they discovered the truth. The man whose bag was found was Rawa Majid, a drug baron wanted on an international warrant.

Rawa Majid, known as the "Kurdish fox," was born in 1986 in Northern Iraq. His father had moved to Sweden to seek asylum. Majid joined street gangs at a young age. In 2009, he was caught and imprisoned during a raid on a cocaine gang. Upon his release in 2015, he decided to form his gang.

And he succeeded...

His gang now controlled the drug trafficking in Stockholm. Children became his hitmen. Backstreet rappers wrote songs for him. He used an encrypted communication system. His organization even had a logo: a uniformed fox holding a gun, symbolizing Majid's gang.

A BARON BECOMES A TURKISH CITIZEN

Just as MIT infiltrated FETÖ's Bylock... The Swedish police's infiltration into the secret communication system was a turning point for Majid. In 2020, the police raided the gang controlling the drug market. Many were caught, but Majid fled to Northern Iraq. When Sweden requested his extradition from Northern Iraq, Majid found a safer address: Turkey!

But how? How can a globally wanted baron feel at ease in Turkey?

Moreover...

We learn from Timur Soykan's book. Majid continued to run his drug gang from Turkey. In 2022, he declared war on Mikael Tenezos's gang of Greek origin. The mutual attacks between the two gangs resulted in deaths and injuries. Then, he entered a bloody battle with "Strawberry Man" Ismail Abdo, a defector from his gang. Children were even targeted in these attacks. In short, the baron sought by Sweden on an international warrant continued to lead his gang from Turkey.

How, you ask...

The answer lies in what happened after Majid was caught...

We read in the news that Majid was arrested with a fake identity. It turns out there was no forgery! Upon arriving in Northern Iraq, Majid legally changed his name to "Miran Othman." After moving to Turkey, he bought a villa in Bodrum for $300,000 and was swiftly granted Turkish citizenship. The citizenship application process, which should have included a background check, fingerprint verification, and a search for any criminal record or warrants, somehow bypassed these steps! Now a fellow citizen, Majid, carrying a Turkish ID under the name Miran Othman!

What followed...

THE BARON WAS RELEASED

Majid, arrested and detained in Marmaris, was immediately subject to an extradition request by Sweden, but to no avail... The Bodrum 1st Penal Court of Peace released Majid in his fourth month of detention, stating he had been detained long enough, despite being wanted in Sweden for drug trafficking and numerous armed attacks and homicides.

Old habits die hard...

Majid didn't change after his release. Timur Soykan recounts a long series of armed confrontations involving Majid in his book. Majid's men beat up a man from Ismail Abdo's gang in Istanbul. In retaliation, on September 6, 2023, Abdo's men shot at Majid's men sitting in a café in Ağaoğlu Maslak 1453 in Istanbul's Sarıyer, where Majid's house also was. The next day, Majid retaliated by having Abdo's 60-year-old mother in Sweden killed. Abdo took his revenge by shooting up the building where Majid's mother-in-law lived on September 9...

The cycle of armed attacks, bombings, and unidentified bodies continued. In these mutual attacks, even a 13-year-old child lost his life. Interestingly, during this time, the Swedish police announced that Ismail Abdo had also become a Turkish citizen and had traveled to Istanbul!

WHY BARONS FLOCK TO TURKEY

Timur Soykan's book explains three main reasons why global barons gather in Turkey. The "Wealth Amnesty" laws passed in 2008, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 made Turkey a haven for untraceable money. Secondly, changes to the citizenship law sold Turkish citizenship to barons at a bargain, giving them legitimacy. Lastly, the AKP Governments chose to fill the void in the collapsing economic and political system with the mafia's billions of dollars and armed power. As a result...

The world's mafia roams our country freely, controls the drug traffic, engages in armed conflicts, and even becomes citizens. The Government, by enforcing oppression, alienates the Turkish citizen merely for being oppositional, making us wonder why we are surprised when a Minister of Interior shakes hands with a CHP member... The real shock should be the mafia's pat on the back! When citizenship is recognized not as a commodity but as a right, our rights won't be sold to barons.