Turkey

U.S. to send troops, Patriot missiles to Turkey

Dec. 14, 2012 - Syria has been accused of using Scud missiles against rebels near the border of Turkey. The United States is sending assistance to protect Turkey and the Incirlik U.S. Air force Base there.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed the order while en route to Turkey to send two Patriot missile batteries and 400 U.S. troops to operate them.

Source: CNN

Prophetic Significance of Turkey

G.I.s mass on border with Syria - 400 NATO soldiers readying Patriot missiles

Dec. 7, 2012 - As the situation in Syria becomes more unstable and the Syrians have prepared chemical weapons of mass destruction for possible use, NATO is moving troops and missiles to Turkey's border.

At least 400 NATO soldiers from the U.S. and the Netherlands were beefing up Turkey’s border with Syria and readying Patriot missiles.

Source: NY Daily News

Turkey returns fire at Syria for fifth day

Oct. 8, 2012 - After a Syrian shell landed inside Turkey, near the border town of Akcakale, Turkey's military returned fire with at least eight shells aimed at Turkish soil The response was in keeping with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's warning Saturday that Ankara would respond forcefully to each Syrian shell that lands on Turkish soil.

Once close allies, Turkey and Syria have become fierce foes since the uprising against Assad began in March last year. Ankara became one of the harshest critics of Assad's crackdown while Syria accused Turkey of aiding rebels.

Source: Fox

Days of Ottoman Empire are gone, Syria warns Turkey - Times of Israel

UN Security Council Condemns Syrian Attack

Oct. 5, 2012 - On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council condemned the attack on the Turkish city of Akcakale by Syrians. The Turkish parliament then authorized military operations outside its borders if necessary.

The Council said the incident "highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbors and on regional peace and stability."

Source: Voice of America

Turkish parliament approves military intervention in Syria

Oct. 4, 2012 - After a cross-border attack that killed five Turkish civilians, the Turkish government approved a government proposal to use military force against Syria. The bill they approved called for ...

“...a one-year-long permission to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces” into Syria in light of the “negative impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria on our national security, as well as on regional stability and security.”

Source: Times of Israel

Turkey and Egypt denounce Syria regime, pledge support for Palestinian cause

Oct. 1, 2012 - Oct. 1, 2012 - At a major meeting of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, Egypt's new president encouraged an emerging partnership between Egypt and Turkey. He pledged opposition to Syria's president.

"The events in Syria are the tragedy of the century," Morsi said. "We will be on the side of the Syrian people until the bloodshed ends, the cruel regime is gone and Syrian people reach their just rights."

He also voiced support of the Palestinian cause and opposition to what he called Israel's 'state terrorism.'

Source: Haaretz

Turkey threatens Syria with military retaliation over downed jet

June 26, 2012 - Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned Syria that the shooting down of a reconnaissance plane on Friday was a hostile act that would not go unanswered. Syrians also shot at a Turkish search-and-rescue plane looking for survivors from the downed jet.

He said the rules of engagement for Turkish forces along the Syrian border had been changed so they would respond more forcefully to threats coming from Syria.

Source:Guardian - UK

World's most powerful imam to rise?

June 18, 2012 - During the closing ceremony of the Turkish Olympics, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed a desire for his spiritual mentor, Fethullah Gülen, to end his self-imposed exile to Pennsylvania, and return to Turkey. Gülen is considered by many to be the most dangerous Islamist in the world. He oversees a vast network of over 1,000 charter schools in over 140 countries. There are nearly 150 in the United States alone. The Turkish Islamism of Gulen...

...uses a veneer of moderation along with the Western concepts of democracy, interfaith dialogue and tolerance as a cover while it works to achieve its goals of Turkish Islamic dominance and a return to the glories of the Ottoman Empire.

According to some accounts, Gülen and his movement are thought to be worth more than $25 billion, derived largely from the free-flow of money from the Afghanistan opium and heroin trade.

Source: WND

CIA - AGENT : Fethullah Gülen on US - 60 minutes - CBS 60 Minutes

Two Worlds Cracking Up

June 12, 2012 - This insightful article begins with the fact that strategists have long debated whether Turkey would be a “bridge” or a “gully” between Europe and the Arab/Muslim Middle East. Thomas Friedman says that it now looks like it is neither one.

It’s an island — an island of relative stability between two great geopolitical systems that are cracking apart: the euro zone... and the Arab state system that came into being after World War I are both coming unglued.

He goes on to explore why both Europe and the Islamic world are both cracking up at once. He believes that there are two main reasons: "The intensifying merger of globalization and the information technology revolution." In Europe, he observes, "German savers seething at Greek workers, and vice versa." In the Arab world new communication technology caused young adults to see how far behind they were.

Source: Thomas L. Friedman - New York Times

Muslims in Turkey Demand Historic Cathedral Be Turned Into Mosque

June 8, 2012 -

Thousands of Muslims in Turkey, preparing to celebrate the Ottoman conquest of the country 500 years ago, are demanding that authorities allow them to convert the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, which was built in 537 by Emperor Justinian, was the world's most renowned Christian church and the center of Orthodox Chrisianity for more than 900 years [when the city was called Constantinople]. After conquest by the Ottomans it became a mosque in the mid-15th century. In 1934, following WWI, it was turned into a museum and a law was passed that makes it illegal for any religious group to hold services on its grounds.

Source: Christian Post

What Is the Difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims?

Because of the violence between the two major branches of Islam, a prophecy student needs to know the difference between them. The majority of Musllims are Sunni (80 to 90%). Shia (Shi'ite) Muslims are the minority (5 to 20%).

The original difference between the two groups is their concept of the line of authority descending from Muhammad. It is a primarily political distinction but they have accumulated some religious differences over time. About.com gives this introduction:

The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job.

The Sunni (from a related Arabic word that means "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet.") accepted the first four Caliphs, starting with Muhammad's friend Abu Bakr, as the rightful successors to lead the Muslim nation. Sunnis accept the writings of these official Caliphs, known as the Hadith ("traditions" of the Prophet's life and spiritual practice). Osama bin Laden was a Sunni Muslim, as are the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Shia (shortened form of the Arabic "Shia-t-Ali" - "The Party of Ali") believe that the rightful successor was the prophet's cousin/son-in law, Ali. Ali and the leaders who followed him were all supposed to have been appointed by either the Prophet Muhammad or Allah himself). There were twelve of these leaders or Imams. Many Shia today are known as "Twelvers" because they believe the Twelfth Imam went into hiding and will return as a messiah at the End of Days. The Shia reject the Hadith and only follow the Qur'an (Koran). Iran's Ayatollah and their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are Shia Muslims

Predominately Sunni Areas (Many countries in each area)

Africa - Including recent countries in the news: Egypt, Libya

Arab World - - Including recent countries in the news: Afghanistan, Iraq,

Saudi Arabia, Syria (but its government is controlled by the Alawites, a smaller Islamic split from the Shi'tes more than 1000 years ago)

East Asia

South Asia - Including recent countries in the news: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey

Predominately Shia (Shi'ite) Countries

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Iran

Iraq

The Muslim population in Lebanon is about half Shi'ite and half Sunni. Almost 40% of the people are Christian.

Sources:

Comparison Chart of Sunni and Shia Islam - Religion Facts

What's the Difference Between Shia and Sunni Muslims? - About.com

Sunni-Shia Relations - Wikipedia

Syria's Ruling Alawite Sect - NY Times

Is Turkey's Erdogan becoming the modern Ataturk?

Aug. 1, 2011 - The resignation of Turkey's top four military chief has given the country's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, greater control over the military.

A historic opportunity has fallen into his hands, and he is grabbing hold of it with both of them. He has managed to impose the civil government authority over the army, and to smash one of the founding principles of Kemal Ataturk's regime.

During Ataturk's reigeme authority was granted to the military to remove governments that did not uphold his principles.

Source: Haaretz

Iron and Clay:
The Revived Roman Empire and a New Islamic Caliphate

Feb. 23, 2011 - Recently there has been a debate among prophecy teachers about the nature of the final world empire. Some say it is a Western union of nations – a “Revived Roman Empire,” while others suspect it will be an Eastern coalition – essentially an Islamic Caliphate.

In Daniel, chapter 2, the major world empires are depicted in a series of dreams and visions. Before this time Egypt and Assyria had already come and gone as world powers. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a giant statue. He asked his wise men to interpret the dream, but they could not. However, Daniel, a devout young Hebrew captive, was given the ability to declare the dream and its interpretation to the king...

...More... Ron's Blog

The Gülen Movement: A New Islamic World Order?

Jun. 1, 2011 - This article and video report explain the great influence of Turkish imam Fetullah Gülen, who has been called the world's top public intellectual and the face of moderate Islam. He lives in Pennsylvania but leads a movement of some 5 million Muslims worldwide in a quest for a supposedly moderate Islamic world system of science and education.

Ariel Cohen, a Middle East analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said this about the movement.

"This is clearly the world according to the Koran, the world according to Islam, the world according to Fetullah Gülen," he told CBN News. "But what he's talking about is not the caliphate, is not the sharia state- -he calls it the New World Islamic Order."

Source: CBN

Surprise! Guess who's biggest Islamic threat

Mar. 12, 2010 - Terror expert Walid Shobat warns that Turkey, a NATO member, is taking a hard turn against Israel. A few months ago a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin indicated that Turkey appeared to be seeking the restoration of the old Ottoman Empire.

The report said Turkey's increasing disinterest in the European Union combined with its efforts to re-establish its influence in Turkic countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and its outreaches to Russian, Syria and Iran are cause for concern.

Walid points out that Turkey was the center of the Ottoman Empire, the last Muslim coalition of nations. He explains, "In 1924, the Caliphate was dismantled by the West, and this is why Muslims hate the West... In 1928, four years later, the Muslim Brotherhood was born. This is the umbrella of all the Muslim terrorist organizations."

Source: WorldNetDaily

See earlier Articles: before March, 2012 [Gog and Magog section]