Europe: "The Vision is an Islamic State"

by Judith Bergman • July 2, 2018 at 5:00 am

"The growing religiousness is not an expression of marginalization. We are talking about people who are well-integrated, but who want to be religious". — Professor Viggo Mortensen.
"The vision is an Islamic state -- Islamic society... Muslims will prefer sharia rule. But the vision for twenty years from now is for sharia law to be part of Germany, that sharia will be institutionalized in the state itself". — "Yusuf", in a documentary series, False Identity.
"I will pick them one by one -- I will start with people around me... If every Muslim would do the same in his surroundings, it can happen with no problem... you don't confront him [the German] with force; you do it slowly... There will be clashes, but slowly the clashes will subside, as people will accept reality." — "Yusuf", in a documentary series, False Identity.
Europe will still exist but, as with the great Christian Byzantine Empire that is now Turkey, will it still embody Judeo-Christian civilization?

According to a 2014 study of Moroccan and Turkish Muslims in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Sweden, an average of almost 60% of the Muslims polled agreed that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, and 65% said that Sharia is more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live. Pictured: Friday prayers at the IZW Mosque in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)

A Dutch government report published in June showed that Muslims in the Netherlands are becoming more religious. The report, based on information from 2006-2015, is a study of more than 7,249 Dutch nationals with Moroccan and Turkish roots. Two thirds of the Muslims in the Netherlands are from Turkey or Morocco.

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Is Turkey Playing a Double Game with NATO?

by Debalina Ghoshal • July 2, 2018 at 4:30 am

Why would Turkey first order a Russian defense system and then turn around and make a cooperation agreement with Europe for the same purpose?
This goes back to America's apprehension that if Turkey uses the S-400s along with the U.S. F-35s, Russia could gain access to information about the aircraft's sensitive technology.
If Turkey is playing a double game with NATO, let us hope that the United States does not fall prey to it.

Pictured: A Russian S-400 missile battery. (Image source: Vitaly Kuzmin/Wikimedia Commons)

In January, 2018 Turkey reportedly awarded an 18-month contract for a study on the development and production of a long-range air- and missile-defense system to France and Italy, showing -- ostensibly -- Turkey's ongoing commitment to NATO. The study, contracted between the EUROSAM consortium and Turkey's Aselsan and Roketsan companies, was agreed upon in Paris, on the sidelines of a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The contract for the study came on the heels of a deal between Ankara and Moscow, according to which Turkey would purchase the S-400 missile defense system -- one of the most sophisticated on the global market -- from Russia. The question is: Why would Turkey first order a Russian defense system and then turn around and make a cooperation agreement with Europe for the same purpose?

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Why Turkey Will Not Be Another Iran

by Amir Taheri • July 2, 2018 at 4:00 am

Khomeini's support came from Tehran and a few other big cities, notably Isfahan, while Erdogan's support base is in rural areas and small and medium cities.
While at least 40,000 people have been executed under Khomeini and his successors, Erdogan refuses to bring back the death penalty in Turkey.
Right now, according to Islamic Chief Justice Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, there are 15000 Iranians under death sentence in prison, waiting to be executed.

Pictured: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran, Iran, April 7, 2015. (Image source: Tasnim/Wikimedia Commons)

Is Turkey going to be another Iran? With President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest electoral victory the question is making the rounds in Western political circles. Despite the fact that Sunday's election gives Erdogan immense new powers, my short answer to the question is a firm: no!

In analyzing the nature of political power in any form the first question to ask concerns the provenance of that power. For where does power comes from determines where it may go.

In Iran in 1979 power was like a box of jewels thrown in the street, ready for anyone to pick up. The Shah had left the country and most members of the Council of Monarchy he had appointed were in the French Riviera, while the army Top Brass had declared "neutrality" which meant the military wouldn't stop anyone from picking up the box of jewels in the street.

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