Posted on November 21, 2013

The Background of Real Conflict in the World

János Bencsik, Jobbik, November 15, 2013

Why is Turkey important, do we need to ally with Muslim countries and what do Western European radical patriots have to say about it? Interview with Gábor Vona about his lectures in Turkey as well as about Islam and immigration.

During your trip in Turkey, you held lectures at several universities. Have you established contacts with political and economic players?

I held lectures at four Turkish universities, and I had an almost unimaginably positive reception. Of course, it wasn’t just for me, it was for Jobbik and the entire Hungarian nation. Even the standing room was completely occupied at my lectures, many people just couldn’t get in. Naturally, I also met political and economic players during my trip. For example, the leaders of 25 NGOs of Istambul organized a ceremonial dinner in my honour one night. Perhaps, the effect of this trip and my reception is best shown by the fact that I was recognized by several people in the streets of Istambul, a city with a population of 20 million. A U18 Turkish international soccer player came up to me and hugged me in the underground station. Visiting them as a brother and not as an enemy meant a lot to them.

Why is Turkey so important?

I have been talking about the strategic importance of Turkey for years. It is a country with a population of 80 million, which has the second largest army within NATO and its economic development of the past 10 years can only be compared to that of China. Its political and economic influence impacts the entire Muslim world, especially Central Asia. Not to mention that it was the state that sent ships with humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. So it’s a safe assumption that Turkey is a great power and is getting stronger and stronger. The Turks–in spite of our struggles and confrontation in the past–love us. Remembering our struggles, they say it was a very tough fight. There’s a Turkish saying: You don’t know what fight means before you fought a Hungarian. There is a large road in the centre of Istambul that is called the Road of Hungarian Brothers.  At school, they teach their children that Hungarians and Turks are relatives. A huge number of people participate in the Kurultaj with great enthusiasm. Considering all the above, Hungarian foreign policy would make a grave mistake if we allowed this relationship to deteriorate, when we are lacking international allies.

Will Hungary directly profit from the visit of Jobbik’s president to Turkey?

Yes, it will.

What will the benefits be?

If a country of this size is increasingly interested in us, in fact they consider us friends and brothers, is a great benefit in itself. This may bear countless economic, political and cultural fruits. I am working very hard to achieve that. Many skeptical people will be greatly surprised.

In your lectures, you were talking about Turanic cooperation as well as Islam, which in your words is the last beacon of light of humanity in the darkness of globalism. What did you mean by that?

I mentioned this in an article back in 2010. I said then that the real distinction is not between different religions, countries and cultures, but between communities attempting to preserve traditions and anti-traditional, global liberalism. If you look closely, you can see it is the Muslim world that still can best resist the monopolar world order dominated by the United States. They do have a lot of problems, countless worrying phenomena, such as the unpredictable course of events in the Arab world. Comparing it to the Christian civilisation in our region however, you can see that Muslim countries are much less dependent.

Does this mean that we Hungarians should ally with Muslim countries?

We should ally with those fighting for a just world order. This could be a country, a community and it could be Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. The point is that they should not be the servants of global liberalism. Hungary now names as allies the countries that have destroyed our economy, exploit our cheap labour, have taken our markets and feed us their own products, force us into completely pointless wars, tread on our national traditions, label us as racist all the time and do not respect us at all. Is this good for us? I ask.

Nevertheless, isn’t it strange that the Roman Catholic president of a party advocating Christian values in a Christian country is making pro-Islam statements?

It is. Especially, if they are misinterpreted. My statement did not mean that I advocate Islam at the expense of Christianity. What I said was that the Islam civilization protects its own tradition more strongly than Christianity does. And that is a fact. I wish Christian churches were more courageous and efficient in protecting national traditions, I wish they clearly and explicitly condemned the intellectual and mental environmental pollution poured on us by liberalism. As a Roman Catholic, I have pointed out several times that the church should not be content with just being a social institution and letting lies exercise their destructive effects. They should undertake the ideological fight as well. So I was not speaking out against Christianity, I was speaking out for it.

What does Christianity mean for Jobbik and you?

Jobbik is a political party that defines itself on the basis of Christian values. The relationship with God is of course a personal matter. Being a European and a Hungarian, for me Christianity means the universal human values that are common in all major religions. Therefore I consider inter-religious dialogue to be very important. At national level, this means ecumenism, while it means the cooperation of religions on a global scale. The role of Turanic alliance can be exemplary in this regard, since there are Christian, Muslim and Buddhist Turanic nations as well as ones with other religions. I don’t know if you noticed that the president of Jobbik, a party considered aggressive and xenophobic, is talking about the dialogue between cultures and religions. I don’t think this interview will make it to the front page of atv.hu, the website of a liberal Hungarian channel. It doesn’t fit their prejudices about us. We are the ones actually stereotyped.

Aren’t you afraid that these statements will block a potential cooperation with Western European national radical parties?

Those who suffer from the problems caused by immigration in Austria or France will find it very difficult to look upon Islam as an ally in the fight against liberal globalism. I understand their anger. However, they must also understand that they cannot judge a community of 1.5 billion people based on the behavior of the immigrants in their country. Similarly, my standpoint about Islam neither means that Europe should become Muslim nor does it mean that I support immigration. In fact, I often emphasize that I appreciate all nations and cultures and I would love to learn more about them–in their own countries.

What’s your opinion about Muslim extremists?

Extremism is relative, obviously. We, Jobbik members know it very well, since we are regularly labelled as extremists by the liberal media. Of course, I condemn terrorism, just like the invasive wars marching under the pretentious banner of anti-terrorism. I think this is the most gruesome practice in the world today.