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When Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Venezuela had already become the active target of America’s coordinated attacks, both diplomatically and, increasingly, militarily. Thus far, there has not been any direct military confrontation with Venezuela, to be sure; nonetheless, from the casual bombings of small boats with multiple people on board on the shallow and indeed false grounds of preventing fentanyl from reaching the U.S., to the constant advertisement of a pending regime change operation in Venezuela on American TV and in newspapers, the world has seen enough of a preparation for war against Venezuela’s current government and specifically, President Nicolas Maduro. It was in this context that Machado was awarded the prize; the committee wanted to make it clear that “peace” was what America really sought.
People who pay attention, on the other hand, knew of Machado’s many mischiefs – for example, her assurance to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., that if America intervened in Venezuela militarily to overthrow Maduro’s government, “business leaders” and “entrepreneurs” in the U.S. would benefit greatly. This was presumably why, however, as much as Trump Sr. would have loved to receive the prize himself, it was at least a consolation to him that the winner was one of his close business partners. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, even Amnesty International, not exactly Trump’s favorite organization, congratulated Machado, emphasizing how important the recognition was that she had received.
Still, people who pay attention would not overlook who Machado actually was. And it was for this reason that, when the office of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu issued a congratulatory statement on the occasion, in which Machado was portrayed as a “role model,” many people who normally support the opposition mayor criticized it. This was certainly not the kind of alignment that any self-respecting person would accept, and this led to Imamoğlu’s later statement explaining that he was not aware of who Machado really was at the time of the original statement. The backlash seemed to have worked, and now Imamoğlu would have to find new ways to defeat those he perceived to be his own Maduro – depicted always negatively, of course and probably unfairly. And defeating Maduro without U.S. aid was doubtless a difficult task.
Yet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is not Maduro, nor would it be a legitimate excuse to become a Machado even if he were. The leader of the main opposition in Türkiye, Özgür Özel, once complained that Britain, led by a Labour prime minister, had not been particularly “helpful” to them. This week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement of a deal with Türkiye on the purchase of Typhoon jets provoked a similar sentiment, with prominent opposition personalities wondering how Britain could cooperate with Türkiye “without a Machado in power.” However, in Britain, senior politicians celebrated the deal enthusiastically – in particular, Starmer highlighted its benefits to the economy, regarding it as one of his most important achievements in government so far.
It is perhaps tragic that the opposition in Türkiye seems unable to confront reality, and this is partly the fault of those who search for Machados all around the world. That intervening in the internal affairs of other countries is not a nice thing to do is surely a widely accepted view by now, though the reasons given may vary. However, one important reason is not very frequently mentioned, if mentioned at all – namely, that it destroys the possibility of having a healthy political environment in the targeted country. The people struggle when they have to worry about whether the politicians they vote for can represent them, or whether they can resist attempts by third countries to influence their decisions. This, in turn, causes all parties involved to be extremely cynical about each other, failing to provide the public with rational dialogue and meaningful choices. And absent of these, everything else becomes a massive distraction.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance, values or position of Daily Sabah. The newspaper provides space for diverse perspectives as part of its commitment to open and informed public discussion.
