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Did Erdogan Stage A Phony Coup So He Could Create An Islamic State In Turkey?

A US-based Turkish cleric accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Ankara government has claimed President Recep Erdogan staged the rebellion himself.

Published

10 years ago

July 16, 2016

Geoffrey Grider

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A US-based Turkish cleric accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Ankara government has claimed President Recep Erdogan staged the rebellion himself to justify a major clampdown on opposition forces.

Fethullah Gulen, who was a former key ally of Erdogan has been blamed by the politician of using his contacts to develop a ‘parallel structure’ to overthrow the state. Erdogan has called on US President Barack Obama to extradite Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania.

In response to the attempted rebellion, Turkish authorities have detained 2,745 judges and prosecutors whose loyalty to the regime has been questioned. Also, some 2,839 soldiers – including the head of the Third Army Corps in Istanbul, General Erdal Ozturk – have been arrested.

PM Binali Yildrim described the plot, which claimed the lives of 161 civilians with 1,440 wounded, as a ‘black stain on Turkish democracy’.

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.

In the next two days, however, the major figures in the AKP disowned Kahraman’s position on a “religious constitution.” The AKP’s Mustafa Sentop, chairman of parliament’s constitutional commission, said that Kahraman’s view was not a “party stance” and that “secularism is preserved in our constitutional draft.” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu asserted, “In the new constitution that we are preparing, the principle of secularism will be included.” He added that it would be a “liberal interpretation” of secularism, not an “authoritarian” version. In also addressing the controversy, Erdogan not only professed support for secularism, but even offered an inspired defense of the principle.

Defining secularism as the state’s “obligation to stay at an equal distance to different faith groups,” he explained why it is a good idea: “If the faith of all religious groups in this country is guaranteed in the constitution, and the state’s equal distance to all religious groups is a foundation, why do you need to emphasize Islam? If I can live my faith as a Muslim the way I want to, the issue is over. If a Christian can live his/her Christianity, if a Jew can live his/her Jewishness or an atheist can live his/her atheism, the issue is also over for them.”

Will Erdogan’s powerful statement ease the tensions over secularism? Probably not, because many secularists fear that they have not yet seen the AKP’s “true face.”

A common view in opposition circles is that Kahraman’s statement on doing away with secularism and introducing a religious constitution did not reflect his “personal views,” as he claimed, but was in fact part of a plan cooked up by Erdogan. Accordingly, Erdogan wanted to test the waters by having Kahraman float the idea of a religious constitution, but then defended secularism after the reaction it elicited. An “Islamic state,” however, remains Erdogan’s long-term goal in their thinking. Another, more persuasive interpretation of events would be as follows.

Erdogan’s ambitions are more about power than doctrine. For power, he needs to sustain popular support, and for popular support, he needs to use religion, but only to a certain extent. While religious symbolism has broad appeal in Turkey, a Quran-thumping Islamic state does not. Various polls bear this out. The most recent survey of the political inclinations of Turkish society was conducted in 2013 by the Pew Research Center, which found that only 12% of all Turks support “making Sharia the official law in their country.” In contrast, 84% of Pakistanis and 74% of Egyptians supported the idea.

Erdogan likely has the support of this hardcore, Islamist minority of 12%, who probably do expect him to create their utopia. At the same time, he also has the support of a much larger block of “conservative” voters who are religious and like reference to religion, but who still prefer to live under secular law. This is why Erdogan would want to retain secularism in the Turkish constitution, albeit while not shying from venerating religion in the public square or perhaps even in the constitution.

A journalist with access to the AKP recently wrote in an insider report that there is a chance that the new constitution will preserve secularism — “laiklik,” from the French “laïcité” — but the preamble might make reference to “Allah and the religion of Islam,” along with some historical figures such as Rumi and Atatürk — in other words, something for everybody. Another rumor is that the preamble will make reference to “the Creator,” a possible inspiration from the US Declaration of Independence.

The more likely future for Turkey is not a Sharia-imposing Islamic state, but a more conservative state re-designed in the image of the AKP. Keep in mind that the latter-day ideology of the party is not simply “Islamism” after all, but “Erdoganism,” in which Islamism is indeed an important theme, but not the only theme. This would not put Turkey on the path to becoming another Iran or Saudi Arabia, as Turkey’s secularists fear, but it could lead in the direction of another Russia, where a similar ideology, “Putinism,” rules.

As the journalist Fareed Zakaria astutely observed, Putinism consists of five fundamentals: religion, nationalism, social conservatism, state capitalism and government media control. “Returning to the values of religion” — in particular Orthodox Christianity — is a powerful theme in Putin’s agenda, with a global vision of “protecting persecuted Christians all over the world.” Replace “Christian” with “Muslim,” and one has Turkey’s ruling ideology. source

Related Topics:Erdogan Islamic State Turkey

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European Union

As Spain Watches While An All-Male Horde Of Foreign Muslim Invaders Violates Its Sovereign Borders, The World Lurches Forward Toward All-Out Global War

Published

1 day ago

July 31, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The Invasion Of Spain By Muslim Migrants Reveals How Quickly National Sovereignty Can Collapse As The Entire World Moves Toward Permanent Emergency Government

Look around you, the world is not merely experiencing a collection of unrelated crises, it is literally convulsing. The war with Iran is spreading across the Middle East, threatening the Strait of Hormuz, striking American interests and pulling nations like Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and China closer to the battlefield. In Europe, Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is pressing against the borders of NATO, with missiles falling dangerously close to the tripwire that could ignite direct conflict between Russia and the West. Now Spain has watched its sovereign border buckle beneath a reported human wave of tens of thousands of Muslims pouring into Ceuta, followed by another coordinated assault against Melilla. The Middle East is burning, Eastern Europe is exploding, and Western Europe is discovering that an invasion does not always arrive behind tanks—it can come through an abandoned border while a paralyzed government stands helplessly watching.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:6–8 (KJB)

Jesus Christ warned that the closing days would be characterized by “wars and rumours of wars,” with nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. That is precisely the atmosphere now gathering over this sin-cursed world. These wars are no longer contained within neat geographical boundaries. Iran strikes across the Middle East, Russia threatens the security architecture of Europe, China arms Tehran while watching Taiwan, and great movements of desperate people are being weaponized against weakened Western nations. Every border is becoming a pressure point, every military alliance a potential tripwire, and every regional conflict a possible doorway into something much larger. The world constructed after the Second World War is coming apart before our eyes, and the demons of nationalism, religious hatred, conquest and empire are coming roaring back from the grave.

Matthew 24 is doctrinally aimed at the Jewish people during the time of Jacob’s trouble, but the shadow of that coming period is already stretching across the nations. In fact, it is our position that verses 3-8 can, and do, refer to the end of ther Church Age time period. We are not yet standing in the Great Tribulation, and will be raptured out before it starts, but we are watching the scaffolding being erected for it. The military alliances are forming, the ancient enemies are awakening, national borders are disintegrating, economic systems are straining, and frightened populations are being conditioned to accept emergency rule as a permanent way of life. The coming Antichrist will not rise in a peaceful and prosperous world. He will step forward from the wreckage of a world exhausted by war, overwhelmed by migration, terrified by economic collapse and begging someone—anyone—to restore order.

That is the real prophetic significance of what is happening. Iran, Ukraine and Spain are different flashpoints, but they are all producing the same result: confusion, fear, destabilization and a growing demand for international control. Satan is preparing the sickness before presenting his counterfeit cure. First comes the chaos; then comes the man promising peace. First the nations are shaken; then the world reaches for a ruler powerful enough to control them. First comes the cry for safety; then comes the covenant that will begin Daniel’s seventieth week and lead straight into the time of Jacob’s trouble.

The world is not falling apart randomly, it is falling into prophetic alignment. The actors are taking their places, the ancient nations are moving, and the machinery of global war is grinding into motion. The Church is waiting for the Pretribulation Rapture, Israel is being prepared for the furnace, and the nations are being gathered toward judgment. The headlines are no longer whispering; they are shouting. Iran is burning, Russia is advancing, Europe’s borders are breaking, and the words of Jesus Christ are casting their unmistakable shadow over the entire world.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

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When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Anthony Fauci

They Censored NTEB For Questioning Fauci In 2021, Now He Pleads The Fifth As Republicans Use The Spectacle To Hide Trump’s Failing Iran War From Voters

Published

2 days ago

July 30, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Anthony Fauci Pleads The Fifth More Than 100 Times As Republicans Resurrect The COVID Scandal To Distract Americans From Trump’s Widening Iran War Before The Midterm Elections

Back in June 2021, Facebook began the process of erasing the Now The End Begins Facebook page with 250,000 followers for daring to challenge the official COVID narrative, question the vaccines and expose the alliance forming between government power, pharmaceutical interests and Big Tech censorship. NTEB had spent more than a decade building its Facebook presence, publishing at that time nearly 9,000 articles and King James Bible teachings, only to be branded as ‘dangerous to the community’ for asking questions the political establishment did not want discussed. We were told to sit down, shut up and “trust the science,” while the social-media gatekeepers worked to make dissent disappear. We did not remain silent back then even as we were being unpublished by our social media overlords, and LORD willing, we will never be silent here in 2026.

“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” Isaiah 59:14

Now the man who became the face of that entire operation has returned to Capitol Hill—and suddenly Anthony Fauci has nothing to say. Subpoenaed before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer more than 100 questions concerning COVID’s origins, American funding of research in Wuhan and whether his private records contradicted his public testimony. Fauci accused Senator Rand Paul of conducting an “unhinged” campaign to put him behind bars, while Paul announced that the committee would vote on holding him in contempt. Fauci had already received a preemptive pardon from Joe Biden covering his government service through January 19, 2025, but his lawyers argued that new testimony could expose him to fresh accusations of perjury. Fauci needs to stand trial, but don’t be fooled as to why this is all happening now.

Everyone is piling on Anthony Fauci now, and rightly so, because he is effectively a COVID mass murderer. But what I want to know is where were these ‘brave souls’ back in 2020 and ’21, when Fauci was given the green light by DONALD TRUMP to do his evil deeds? And what about… pic.twitter.com/ODBkgmn1ow

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) July 30, 2026

Republicans are dragging Fauci back beneath the television lights precisely as Donald Trump’s Iran War is widening, American munitions are being consumed, diplomacy is collapsing and Tehran’s regime remains alive and fighting. The United States has resumed heavy strikes against Iran, Iran is again firing toward American forces, Saudi Arabia is striking Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, and what was sold as another display of overwhelming American power is mutating into an open-ended regional war. The Fauci hearing gives conservative media the perfect spectacle to relive the rage of 2020, watch Fauci squirm, and keep Republican voters from staring too closely at the strategic disaster unfolding in the Middle East.

After Americans were censored, suspended, ridiculed and threatened for questioning him, his refusal to answer legitimate questions under oath is historically stunning. At the same time, Republicans must not be permitted to turn Anthony Fauci into a political smoke bomb. Donald Trump placed Fauci before the American people, kept him there, launched Operation Warp Speed and repeatedly promoted the vaccines. Now the GOP wants applause for questioning Fauci while demanding silence concerning Trump’s war. Same stage, different distraction—and once again, the American people are being told where to look and what they are permitted to question. The players will change, but the song remains the same. Anthony Fauci only had power because Donald Trump gave it to him, remember that.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

China

Here On Day 151 Of World War Trump, China Is Now The Official Supplier Of Shoulder-Fired Air Defense Missile Launchers To Iran As The Conflict Greatly Expands

Published

3 days ago

July 29, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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China Moves To Rearm Iran With 400 Shoulder-Fired Missiles As World War Trump Widens Into A Dangerous Global Confrontation With America In The Crosshairs

What you are watching is no ordinary weapons sale, it’s the widening of the Middle East war into a confrontation between the world’s great powers. According to Reuters, Iran could soon receive as many as 400 Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 shoulder-fired air-defense systems in a deal worth up to $70 million. America and Israel spent months blasting holes through Iran’s defenses, and now Communist China appears ready to help Tehran fill those holes with hundreds of portable, heat-seeking missiles. Washington drops the bombs, Beijing replaces the weapons, and Iran prepares for the next round. This is how a regional war begins mutating into something much larger and infinitely more dangerous. Welcome to World War Trump where things have been going very badly, and getting worse by the day.

“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:” Ezekiel 38:5 (KJB)

Do not underestimate these weapons because they are carried on a man’s shoulder. A fixed radar installation can be photographed by satellites, targeted by coordinates and destroyed with a precision strike. A MANPADS team, or Man-portable air-defense system, can hide inside a building, travel in an ordinary vehicle, emerge without warning and disappear immediately after firing. These missiles will not make Iran’s airspace impenetrable or bring down high-flying B-2 bombers, but rather transform the lower skies over Iran into a deadly ambush zone for helicopters, drones, surveillance platforms and low-flying aircraft. Every airbase, missile facility, refinery and command center could suddenly be protected by launchers that American planners cannot easily locate or eliminate.

This is the terrible arithmetic of America’s unfinished war, otherwise known as World War Trump. The United States expends million-dollar missiles and billion-dollar aircraft to destroy Iran’s defenses, while China helps Tehran replace a dangerous layer of those defenses for a comparatively modest $60–70 million. Iran does not have to defeat the United States in the air; it merely has to make every mission more expensive, every flight more dangerous and every strike more politically costly. Tehran is learning from every American attack, dispersing its weapons, hardening its facilities and purchasing exactly the systems needed to complicate the next assault. The longer this war continues, the less Iran resembles the vulnerable target struck at its beginning.

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Then comes the China factor. Beijing does not have to fire directly upon American forces to wage war against American power. It can arm Iran, supply dual-use technology, sustain Tehran’s military industry and force Washington to drain its own stockpiles thousands of miles from home. If the reported shipment travels through Pakistan and into Iran, it would reveal the emergence of an eastern military-supply corridor operating beyond Washington’s control. China, of course, has denied the report and Pakistan denies involvement, but if the delivery occurs, the strategic message will be unmistakable: America’s enemies are beginning to replenish one another, the nightmare does not end at Iran’s borders. Portable missiles can be hidden, transported and transferred far more easily than large air-defense batteries. If even a fraction of these weapons eventually reached Iranian proxy forces, American troops, Israeli aircraft and civilian aviation throughout the region could face a whole new level of danger. Once these systems are dispersed, tracking every launcher will become virtually impossible, and Iran will have gone from surviving to thriving. How can that be? Because your King James Bible declares that Iran is a major power in the last days, that’s how.

Jesus warned that the closing days would be marked by “wars and rumours of wars,” and we are watching the machinery of those wars being assembled before our eyes. America strikes Iran. China rearms Iran. Russia strengthens its relationships across the East. Israel prepares for another attack, while every ceasefire becomes merely a pause to reload. These are not isolated headlines anymore, they are pieces of a rapidly forming global alignment. World War Trump has lit the end times fuse, the weapons are moving, and the nations, and the kingdoms, are busy choosing their sides. Exactly how the prophets say that it will be in the last days.