By Walid Shoebat
As a rule, we do thorough research before incorporating that research into our reports. In this case, I thought I’d let others do the talking when it comes to Turkey’s Primer Minister.
Via Hurriyet:
“President Erdogan made a speech at the Erzurum Meeting which he titled ‘Respect for Natianol Will’. In it, he repeated his demand for his supporters to hang the Turkish national flag on their balconies. That wasn’t all.
He also said: ‘On your homes, hang the Turkish Flags. But the flag should not have any other political symbol, just use a plain Turkish Flag. But if you would like to or prefer to hang Ottoman Flag which has three crescent moon beside the Turkish Flag to your balconies, we will welcome it, we are proud of the Ottoman Flag.’
While speaking to his supporters, Erdogan encouraged them to use the ottoman flag as a show of their support to Him and His party. The modern Turkish Flag is a symbol of the Modern Turkish Secular Republic. But the flag with three crescent moons is a symbol of the Ottoman Empire and its Islamic theocratic system.
Wearing the Mark of the Beast?
At the Daily Maverick, Olivia Walton writes:
There are thousands of protestors in Taksim Square right now. Erdogan and his government have decided to build a mall – in the guise of a recreated Ottoman barracks – in Gezi Park, one of central Istanbul’s only green spaces. Locals have made it clear: they do not want a mall. They want their park. Erdogan has also made his position clear: Hurriyet quotes him saying, “Do whatever you want, but we’ve made our decision.” Not quite the voice of reason.
In one instance, protesters fled to a mosque (Beşiktaş Bezmi Alem Camii) in the face of a Police (Erdogan) crackdown. They did this not as a show of disrespect but only to seek safety. These protesters – some badly injured – were forced out of the mosque by police, who charged that these protesters violated the rules of an Islamic holy place:
At the Huffington Post, Joy Stocke quotes a Turkish business man as saying:
“We have had enough of the prime minister scolding people a few times every day and telling us the number of kids we should have (three per family), forbidding kissing in public, banning alcohol between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. except in tourist areas… building a third bridge over the Bosporus (and naming it for Sultan Selim the Grim who in the 16th century after annexing Egypt made the Ottomans the dominant power in the Islamic world)… Erdogan’s style has been so unkind and arrogant that the people said that is enough and took to the streets.”
Magnus Frank and Joel Strauss write the following at the commentator:
“Erdoğan and the JDP have shown themselves to be effective in suppressing voices of dissent, ranking among the worst nations in the world.”
And…
Perhaps most worryingly, Erdoğan seems to have brought the military, the guarantor of Turkish secularism, further under his control. An article from this February quoted top Turkey expert Andrew Finkel as claiming that an astounding 15 percent of all top Turkish army officials were on trial with scores choosing resignation over prosecution. The offenses include a host of conspiracy cases against the state and several top generals have been handed over twenty year sentences for allegedly plotting a coup.
Of course, who can forget Erdogan’s most infamous quote, via the New York Times in 1998:
On Friday, prosecutors in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir filed charges against Mayor Reccep Tayip Erdogan of Istanbul, in connection with a speech he made in the nearby town of Siirt last year. In that speech, Erdogan, who is a leader of the Islamic-oriented Welfare Party, said, “The mosques are our barracks, the domes are our helmets, the minarets are our swords, and the faithful are our army.”
As for concluding that Erdogan is the forerunner of Antichrist, we’re not quite ready to go as far as this horse apparently did in declaring it: