Posted on 05/01/2016 8:41:06 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman unexpectedly sparked controversy in Turkey when on April 25 he declared that Turkey’s new constitution should forgo mention of “secularism” and instead be a “religious constitution” referencing God. His words reignited Turkey’s always tense “secularism debate,” which has been amplified since 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power. Kahraman's remarks led to protests in a number of cities, a call by the main opposition leader for him to resign and allegations by secular pundits that the Speaker had shown the AKP’s “true face,” its “real intentions.” Because Kahraman is a known confidant of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, many also suspected that his statement was part of a scheme being orchestrated by Turkey's leader.
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
Who had the not so bright idea to let Turkey into NATO?
err-DOG-an is an enemy.
poo-tin is an enemy.
ass-ad is an enemy.
isis is an enemy.
hezbollah is an enemy.
iran is an enemy.
Sounds like they should be left alone to duke things out.
No, he wants to be the 12th Mahdi/Ummah Caliph.
Erdogan wants a revival of the Caliphate in Istanbul.
The Turks aren’t really into the Mahdi thing. They are into restoring the Caliphate where they believe it belongs, in Istanbul. Erdogan does not want to be Caliph. Most of the caliphs ere figureheads for the ruling sultans that kept a rein on Mohammedans outside the political borders of the Sultan. That was the theory and partially it worked.
And I want to see Constantinople liberated and it's mosques destroyed. I may get my wish if Turkey become a Caliphate.
Yes. I've known that ever since he was elected. He has been pushing for an Islamic state publicly and vocally, as well as by favoring Islam through government activity.
What happened was that the poorer Turks in the interior, who are strongly Muslim, outbred the more cosmopolitan Turks in the major cities. They then outvoted the more cosmopolitan ones. Erdogan knows where his votes come from.
Just for the record, when I was teaching a course in statistics at Marmara University in Istanbul, I used to use data from the Turkish census in my courses. I'd have students run statistical tests on the differences between age groups, regional groups, etc. Differences in such things as literacy, education level, etc. the trends were always toward more pro-Muslim, and lesser-educated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.