Free Republic

The dire dimensions of the punitive measures instituted by Erdogan are beyond any limit conceivable in a state ruled by law. Over 2,000 entities suspected of having ties with Gulen have been shut down, including fifteen universities, 19 labor unions, 1,043 private schools, 1,229 foundations and 35 hospitals and health institutions. The list of persons arrested is also beyond belief: No fewer than 8,000 military personnel, 2,000 magistrates and 1,500 policemen. In total, the number of individuals thrown in jail exceeds 80,000. A large number of them are academics. Education in Turkey has been decimated. Among others, 21,000 teachers from...

Much has been made of the Islamic State’s claim to the caliphate. But the Islamic State is fast losing ground in Syria and Iraq, and without a territorial claim, its claim to the caliphate is a shaky one. According to some sources, ISIS has already been preparing its followers for the fall of the caliphate. Meanwhile, an Islamist power with a much better claim to the caliphate has been gathering strength. Whether the failed coup in Turkey was the real thing or whether it was staged, as some have claimed, President Erdogan’s hold over the Turkish nation has been immeasurably...

By Ralph Peters Fox News Posted 2016-07-22 05:11 GMT If today's Western leaders possess one general trait, it's a genius for self-deception. Insisting that Islamist terror has nothing to do with Islam, or that religion has no strategic impact, or that all human beings want freedom and democracy, amounts to declaring that up is down, right is left and night is day. And midnight is coming for millions in Turkey, even as we insist that a dying flashlight is the sun. Over the past few years, many Americans heard the term "caliphate" for the first time as ISIS declared that...

If today’s Western leaders possess one general trait, it’s a genius for self-deception. Insisting that Islamist terror has nothing to do with Islam, or that religion has no strategic impact, or that all human beings want freedom and democracy, amounts to declaring that up is down, right is left and night is day. And midnight is coming for millions in Turkey, even as we insist that a dying flashlight is the sun. (...)

To us, “caliphate” appeared to be just another name for a vast torture chamber. But for hundreds of millions of Muslims, many of whom have nothing to do with ISIS, the caliphate is associated with a lost and much-romanticized golden age when the caliph, who was also the Turkish sultan, claimed spiritual dominion over all Muslims. In the 14th century, the Ottomans revived the still-older concept of a caliphate, declaring that the sultan and caliph were one. It remained so until 1924, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the great modernizer, abolished the office as a relic, insisting that Turks had to...

(Title too long: Erdogan And His Army Of Islamic Supremacists Take Over Turkey, They Are Now Declaring Him The Caliphate Of The Islamic World And Will Now Be Using The Government Of Turkey To Form The Empire Of The Antichrist And Will Work To Invade Europe) ******************************************************* When roughly 60 percent of the country voted against the AKP party in June the analysts said that Erdogan was over with. We said otherwise and Sunday’s vote secured the power of Mr. Erdogan and the A.K.P. for many more years to come, and those that were hoping to see the beginning of...