Kim Kardashian or NATO — Who will hold a mirror to Turkey?

With 66.9 million followers on Twitter, and another 189m on Instagram, when celebrity, businesswoman and reality star Kim Kardashian West posts anything, the world takes notice. Daughter of late Robert Kardashian, a third-generation Armenian-American, Kim has always been proud and vocal of her paternal ancestry – be it by visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex on the outskirts of the capital Yerevan or feeling "blessed" after getting baptized with her children in Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia, one of the world's oldest cathedrals.

These days, the 39-year-old has taken it upon herself to tell the world about the "offensive uses of force" against the Armenians by the Azerbaijan forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the Turkish involvement in the entire conflict. "Call upon Baku to cease all offensive uses of force, cut off all US military aid to #Azerbaijan being used against Armenians & warn #Turkey to stop sending arms & fighters to Baku," she tweeted recently.

There are some more famous men and women like pop star Cher (Cherylin Sarkissian), American rapper Xzibit and Sir Elton John, the celebrated English singer, composer, songwriter and pianist, who've joined in spotlighting the Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia. "In May 2018, I visited this beautiful country and was overwhelmed with the kindness and humanity shown to me by the Armenian people. Now Armenia and Artsakh are under attack from unprovoked Azeri/Turkish aggression. Civilians are being targeted and there are needless deaths on both sides. Armenians are beautiful people and they deserve lasting peace from years of historical persecution," John said in an Instagram post Monday.

<img class="wp-image-16315 size-large" src="https://indianarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2700314bb722e6da26dd7e6e7f4d3b6d-752×1024.jpg" alt="" width="752" height="1024" /> U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian walks with a clergy at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Old City of Jerusalem (Xinhua/Muammar Awad/IANS)

So, is the world finally waking up to the threat posed by expansionist ambitions of leaders like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? Could be a case of too little, too late if it doesn't even now.

In an interview to German newspaper Bild, Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia, has warned that if the international community does not react to Turkey's imperialistic policies, they should be ready to wait for Turkey near Vienna.

"Because what happens here is internationally important for three reasons. Firstly, because, as I said, terrorists from Syria are hired and transported by Turkey to fight Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Second, the Turkish army is involved in this process. This shows the imperialist policy of Turkey, whose action aims at the restoration of the Turkish Empire. This also includes other activities in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Libya – as Turkey is doing in these regions. Third, I believe that after 100 years, Turkey has returned to the South Caucasus region to continue the Armenian genocide that took place in Turkey in 1915," said Pashinyan.

The Arab world too considers Turkey as a huge liability now. Saudi Arabia's head of Chamber of Commerce calling for a boycott of "everything Turkish" hasn't surprised many as relations between the two countries were already on a downward spiral after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. However, instead of stabilizing relations, Turkey continues to add fuel to fire. Erdogan, while addressing Turkey's General Assembly last Thursday, targeted Gulf states and accused them of destabilizing the region.

"It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow. However, we will continue to keep our flag flying in this region forever, with the permission of Allah,” said Erdogan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and other anti-<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Turkey</a> Gulf states will likely be wiped out from the face of earth, said Turkish President <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Erdogan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Erdogan</a> in his Parliament speech delivered today. <a href="https://t.co/FjtIWbhezV">pic.twitter.com/FjtIWbhezV</a></p>
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) <a href="https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/1311724158938685442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The comments made by a man who is presenting himself to the world as the leader of the Muslim world has obviously infuriated many in the Saudi Kingdom. "The boycott of everything Turkish, whether on the level of import, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi 'trader and consumer', in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, our country and our citizens," tweeted Saudi Arabia's Chamber of Commerce chief Al Ajlan over the weekend.

Turkey's currency plunging to the lowest level ever and economy too sinking fast, Erdogan should've been focusing home instead of going hunting all over the neighborhood. "Erdogan and his government have always been good at distracting people from their economic woes by getting them to rally round the flag," Davide Luca, Turkey specialist and Visiting Fellow with the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, told Cyprus Mail.

Greece, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Cyprus, Bahrain, even India, Erdogan – described as "a radical Islamist megalomaniac who wants to establish a caliphate with himself as the Caliph" by the US politician Tulsi Gabbard – continues to make provocative moves and find more nations to rub them the wrong way.

<img class="wp-image-16316 size-large" src="https://indianarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/a4fcdd30eeef3e5b4e3fed656c809110-1024×699.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="699" /> Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at a meeting in Istanbul (Str/Xinhua/IANS)

Erdogan's factually incorrect and unwarranted comments on Kashmir and Palestine during the speech made at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month, has also ruffled many feathers.

TS Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told Turkey that it should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its policies more deeply.

Two days ago, Israel accused Turkey and Iran of destabilizing and disturbing peace in the region. "Definitely the question of Turkey is a very complicated one, because Turkey is part of NATO. So we must take all the options that we have in our hands and try to influence it through international pressure to make sure that they are pulling their hands from direct terrorism," Israel's Defence Minister and alternate Prime Minister, Benny Gantz told Arab journalists in a Zoom conference organized by the Arab Council for Regional Integration.

Calls to be "open and tough" with the Erdogan government have been repeatedly made by French President Emmanuel Macron too. Well, in a world where NATO reacts long after Kim Kardashian and others have already expressed their shock and disappointment, acting 'tough' with a rogue nation would perhaps remain a figment of imagination rather than a geopolitical reality..