The mass anti-government demonstrations in Iran that flared in the last days of 2017 are being watched curiously in neighboring Turkey, as they are elsewhere in the world. As usual, many Turks chose to interpret the events based less on facts and more on their own ideological blueprints. And as usual, for the government and its supporters, this ideological blueprint involves something nefarious: an American-Zionist conspiracy to destabilize Iran.
This point of view was implied by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a statement to the press on Jan. 2. “It is said that other forces are behind the events,” the minister said. He added, “One is [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, the other one is [US President Donald] Trump.” Meanwhile, the pro-government media — which now constitute the majority of Turkish media — had already mapped out the plot: The Iranian protesters were merely the tools of outside powers that were trying to bring a defiant Muslim nation to its knees.
Among the dozens of columns that conveyed this point of view, one was by Ibrahim Karagul, the editor-in-chief of daily Yeni Safak. Accordingly, Iran was being “stirred up” by America and Israel. Moreover, if these two forces succeed in taking over Iran, the “next step” would be none other than Turkey itself. Talking heads on the pro-government news channel A Haber repeated the same line. These protests were taking place because “a new Middle East map" was being designed by the West. There seemed to be a "CIA-Mossad finger" behind the unrest. And if Iran did not stay robust, “the Syrian scenario” could well be repeated.
On Jan. 3, the daily Star, one of the staunchest pro-government newspapers, came out with a huge story that added more substance to the conspiracy theory. Titled “Trump’s puppets in Iran,” the story listed four insurgent groups that fight the Iranian regime: the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, the Salafist-jihadi Ansar al-Furqan and the Kurdistan Free Life Party. While these “American puppets,” along with at least 400 spies, were igniting “fitna,” or sedition, Star also told us, “the Iranian people” were supporting their Islamic regime in solidarity with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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