What is a caliphate, you ask? Wikipedia says: “A caliphate is an Islamic state under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph.” Russia Today says: “a caliphate is a state ‘dedicated to the cause of Islam, seeking to be a unifying and defending force for all Muslims. The word had received plenty of negative attention in recent times since the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed the title for itself.'” Most of the world never recognized ISIS’s claim to be a caliphate.
In theory there could be multiple caliphates at once; ideally one empire dominates the Islamic world and has official authority over smaller Islamic kingdoms. There have been several caliphates since the death of Muhammad, and Islam had a golden age under the Abbasid Caliphate, which founded Baghdad near the start of their reign in 762 AD, and remained in power there until Mongols sacked the city in 1258. Ottoman Turkey claimed the role in 1517, and led the most recent caliphate – the Ottoman Caliphate – from Constantinople – now Istanbul – until their empire was dismembered just over four centuries later, after their defeat in WWI.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk became the first president of the new rump state, the Republic of Turkey, in 1923. He was determined to make Turkey less religious and more modern. Major efforts to westernize left religious conservatives feeling abandoned, and some portion of the Turkish population never accepted the attempt to become more European, especially when repeatedly rejected for membership in the European Union. Instead of looking West to Europe seeking inclusion amongst Christians, Erdogan and most other Turks have shifted their view east, and look to the Islamic world for acceptance.
Today’s president/dictator Recep Erdogan is an Islamist determined to undo many of the secular reforms made by Ataturk. In the 1990s, as mayor of Istanbul, he is often quoted as having said: “Democracy is like a streetcar. When I arrive at my destination, I get off.” Like Hitler before him, Erdogan used the democratic process to reach the height of political power. But he has little respect for democracy. Or NATO. Or Christians. Or Jews. But he does love Islam. And power.
In July 2016 there was allegedly a failed coup against Erdogan. Commenters noted: “The Turkish military had never failed in a coup before” and “The fact that Erdogan himself was not captured or harmed also looked odd.” “Erdogan has blamed the coup on Fethullah Gulen, the head of a religious movement who lives in exile in the US and who is one of his strongest political opponents…. According to available information, a far-reaching purge of the GM’s [Gulen movement’s] followers in the armed forces and the gendarmerie was planned for early August 2016 based on lists produced by the MIT [Turkish intelligence]. Some arrests were already planned for 16 July, the day after the coup attempt”, the EU report added. “The coup was just the catalyst [justification] for the crackdown prepared in advance,” the IntCen report said.”
The coup started around 5AM local time, but some government documents describing the coup were recorded before it even began, at 1AM. “Much has happened since Coskun drafted his fateful minutes back at 1AM on 16 July 2016. Erdogan has detained over 70,000 people, including opposition MPs, 110 journalists, and human rights defenders. He has sacked 150,000 public officials and shut down all government-critical media.”
So when a Turkish magazine calls for a new Caliphate, I suspect that they were in fact asked to publish the article and that Erdogan’s negative response is a ruse. I think he wants to act like he doesn’t want to be the Caliph, while in reality he would love to be the leader of the entire Islamic world.
In an article at Zerohedge.com, the author noted that “Gercek Hayat, owned and operated by the pro-government Yeni Safak media group, published a red caliphate flag from the Ottoman Empire on Monday that read: “Get together for caliphate. If not now, when? If not you, who?”
No publisher in Turkey would dare to actually oppose Erdogan and suggest his replacement. “The Turkish bar association has filed a criminal complaint against pro-Islam magazine Gercek Hayat for instigated hatred and called for an armed rebellion against the Turkish government…. Ankara Bar Association requested government prosecutors to investigate the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Kemal Ozer, and columnist Abdurrahman Dilipak, claiming their radical newspaper called for an Islamic caliphate.”
I am biased to instead believe in Bible prophecy, which suggests that a Caliphate will re-emerge in the end times and will eventually see the biblical antichrist rule most of the Middle East. The Bible suggests there will be an end times religious empire in the Middle East that will kill millions of Christians and Jews. Even the French prophet Nostradamus saw a future including WWIII between Islam and the West – a war that will be over by the end of 2028.
This Turkish call for a caliphate is simply preparing the population for the idea ahead of time. Many people have there eyes on China and Iran. They will be allied with Turkey. Watch Erdogan.
Time to put on the armor of God and ask for guidance on how HE wants us to live our lives rather than how WE want to live our lives. We’ve been doing it so wrong for so long. He’s not happy.