Gülen, Kenya and Turkey's MIT

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57304094

Kenya was the scene of a previous Turkish intelligence (MIT) operation in the late 1990's when (with the help of the CIA) the head of the PKK was captured. This time it's unclear if Nairobi was a willing participant in the MIT operation though it seems unlikely that Turkey would have risked the international scandal to capture someone that frankly is not exactly a high-value target.

Erdogan's AKP is continuing its campaign against the Gülenist movement. They have been unable to get their hands on Fethullah Gülen himself who has lived in the Pennsylvania Poconos since 1999.*

The AKP has laboured to purge Pentagon-connected Kemalists from the military and government and Gülenists from government, media, academia, and anywhere else they might be found. With good reason Erdogan views them as a Fifth Column and collaborators with the CIA who has been trying to remove him for years. 2016 was merely the latest and most audacious attempt to do so. Erdogan himself escaped certain assassination by only a few minutes.

Was Gülen's nephew up to something in Kenya – something that would garner Ankara's tension and stoke concern? This is not yet known. However, in general terms they want to keep the pressure on Gülen and make his associates afraid to travel and thus render them ineffective. It's also believed that Turkey's MIT was behind the kidnapping of a Gülenist teachers in Kirghizstan only a few days ago as well.

If there is more to the story it's likely this. Kenya and Turkey have been forging closer trade ties in recent years. Turkey sees Kenya as a primary trade partner in East Africa and Ankara wants to use Kenyan ports (such as Mombasa) as a gateway to African markets. Recently Turkey has also moved into the realm of military hardware, selling Kenya over one hundred Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC's). The relationship is such that it's quite possible that Nairobi was asked to 'look the other way' while the MIT snatched Gülen from his home. Money trumps all and for Kenya the cost was minimal and yet they will likely reap a larger benefit in terms of future trade packages.

Turkey continues to forge an independent 'Neo-Ottoman' path that steers a course between all the major powers and blocs. As such, Turkey is attractive to nations that are attempting to do the same, especially in Central Asia where (if Erdogan was out of the way), Washington could fund a massive Pan-Turkism project to counter both Russian and Chinese influence. As it is Turkey has aggressively campaigned in Central Asia to suppress the Gülenist movement and has experienced some success.

It's almost as if Turkey has the potential to create a new Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the context of Cold War II. Still a member of NATO, the Eurasian nation is increasingly a pariah state in the West and yet it has not fully signed on with Russia or China either.

A final point regarding Turco-Kenyan relations. Egypt's relationship with Turkey has turned quite sour in recent years. There are disputes over trade and resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and the two nations are odds over the ongoing conflict in Libya. Egypt has frequently angered Ankara by threatening to formally recognise the Armenian Genocide and they've even offered asylum to Fethullah Gülen should he have to leave the United States.

Given the growing tensions in Central-East Africa surrounding nations like Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, and the like it seems obvious that Turkey would like to make friends with the nations on Egypt's periphery, leaving them more diplomatic and possibly even military options should future conditions call for an intervention.

The Gülen story is but a part of this larger conflict. And the East African equation is in fact plugged into a much larger geopolitical equation that includes the United States, China, and even nations like Saudi Arabia and Russia. If Turkey wants to assert itself in this crowded field it has to 'hit' beyond its weight class and be assertive.

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*The BBC article was in error suggesting that Gülen fled to Pennsylvania following the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

See also:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/01/shining-light-on-gulen.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/05/deep-state-disturbance-resignation-of.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-grey-wolves-and-turkmen-brigades.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/02/halki-seminary-and-us-objectives-in-old.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/02/pan-turkism-russia-china-and-tibet.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2017/03/deutsche-welle-dw-turkish-intelligence.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/07/theres-something-rotten-in-istanbul-and.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/06/geopolitical-chess-libyan-civil-war-and.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-sublime-porte-versus-lelysee.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-death-and-burial-of-kemalism.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-libyan-proxy-war-ankara-and-athens.html