There Are Tyrants and There Are Little Tyrants

Everyone knows the compassion mothers feel for their children. They do not hesitate to throw themselves into fire for them.

In fact, their love for their children is so great that they often cannot see their faults, and even when they do see them, they find reasonable excuses that make them innocent in their own eyes. And this even though they criticise those same faults mercilessly when they see them in others. Though it may not be acceptable, we can understand this maternal reflex.

But how should one react when countries show this reflex towards one another?

Can a country really love another so blindly that it turns a blind eye to even its most ruthless wrongdoing?

In different parts of the world, a great deal of destruction is taking place that has begun to seem ordinary in our minds.

Atrocities, wars and massacres are two a penny. Even as you read these lines, three or four of them have surely come to mind. The Russia–Ukraine war, Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the genocide China is inflicting on the Uyghur Turks are the best known of them.

The cries of weeping babies and wounded children never leave our imagination. And every day a new atrocity is added. Although reactions are rising from many parts of the world, nothing has changed yet. The point I want to touch on in this article concerns the voices that are raised and those that are not. Why do some countries defend plain deaths, ruthless atrocities and endless destruction as if they were defending their own child?

Interests Take Precedence over Right

China’s years-long persecution of the Uyghur Turks drew reactions from many countries, and many even imposed sanctions. Yet some 50 countries, including Russia, North Korea and Cuba, supported China. The Eastern bloc countries’ support for China may stem from their being allies. But why do many Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan support it? And even Syria, Palestine and Myanmar, which themselves suffer from atrocities? And sadly, it must be said that Turkey too has given silent support to the persecution suffered by its kin and co-religionists.

One of the greatest catastrophes of recent times is Israel’s ongoing occupation of Gaza. (Update: A ceasefire was declared on 10 October 2025; according to the Gaza health ministry, however, killings continued.)

Let there be no misunderstanding because of the term “great catastrophe” I used above. What Israel is doing is genocide in the full sense of the word. Although at the outset Israel seemed to be the victim, its real aims became clear as time went on. From that moment, many countries withdrew their support and also began to react. In this period some countries also decided to recognise Palestine as a state in a show of support. But there are also countries that, come what may, never withdraw their support for Israel. Sadly, at the head of these countries is the United States, the “indefatigable defender of democracy”. Next comes Germany, the land of migrants, which always feels a sense of shame towards the Jewish people. The steadfast allies Britain and France are also among the countries that have made their support clear.

I would probably not be exaggerating if I said that the Russia–Ukraine war is the bloc war played out on the ground.

It is a power struggle between Ukraine, trying to resist with the open support of Western bloc countries such as the US, Germany, Britain and France, and Russia, trying to advance with the support of Eastern bloc countries such as China, North Korea and Iran.

And what can one say about the fact that the countries I have named were themselves victims and the oppressed of the last world war? What did people who suffered oppression tell later generations that they felt the need to make others suffer what they had suffered?

It is possible to multiply examples of wars and conflicts. What is interesting here are the arguments countries use when giving their support. Almost all of them claim to stand with the victim and accuse the other side, posing as apostles of “goodness and democracy”. Unfortunately, the truth is otherwise.

The only reason they support the oppressor when it suits them and the oppressed when it suits them, and commit the same oppression when the time comes, is their interests.

Because for states, sadly, the only truth is what they will gain in the end. States may have no morals, but we have seen that the morals of many state leaders have also melted away within their state identity.

None of Us Is Innocent!

The US, which accuses Russia and China of being oppressors, openly supports Israel’s oppression. And this while the blood of Iraq and Afghanistan has not yet dried on its hands.

What Britain, Portugal and Spain did in their colonies still lives in memory as black marks on world history.

France is busy lecturing others on morality as if it were not a country that drenched North Africa in blood, committed genocide and has recently acknowledged its crime.

Germany seems to have forgotten that it was one of the main culprits of both world wars in history. And this despite having killed millions of people through torture.

Turkey, one of the cleanest countries in terms of its past, has taken its place among today’s oppressor states thanks to the Erdoğan government.

Their posing as mediators to build bridges of peace and love for the world only makes them look ridiculous. Erdoğan, who entered the war in Syria by supporting terrorist organisations, committed his greatest oppression against all sections that oppose him. He left hundreds of thousands of people exposed to deprivation and othering. And at the same time he gives commercial support to the killings committed by Israel.

That those who support suffering and death in other countries so that the prosperity and peace their own countries enjoy is not disturbed speak out against the oppression committed by their rivals surely has nothing to do with good sense.

That humanity has not completely died despite so much injustice and destruction gives some hope.

That even the citizens of countries ruled by oppressive leaders react to what is happening is an important factor preventing those leaders from becoming even more unbridled. Otherwise it would be inevitable for the world to fill up with new Hitlers and Mussolinis. But it should not be forgotten that steering societies is much easier today than in the past. The pure hearts that defend right and law today need to be much more careful not to end up on the side of oppression tomorrow.