Headline News

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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Donald Trump

Economic D-Day Or Another TACO Tuesday? Trump Threatens To Isolate Iran While Tehran Bets The President Will Once Again Abandon His Own Deadline

Published

6 hours ago

August 20, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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TACO Trump Says Economic D-Day Will Completely Isolate Iran, But His Seven Abandoned Military Ultimatums Reveal Why Tehran May Not Believe A Word Of It This Time Around

Trump’s declaration of “Economic D-Day” against Iran is designed to sound final, crushing and historically unprecedented. But after six months of abandoned deadlines, cancelled attacks and endlessly extended ultimatums, the question is no longer whether Trump can threaten Iran. The question is whether anyone in Tehran still believes him. This is where TACO—“Trump Always Chickens Out”—becomes the unavoidable lens through which his announcement must be examined.

“They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.” Hosea 8:4 (KJB)

The United States unquestionably possesses the financial power to devastate Iran. Washington can sanction Iranian banks, seize assets, blacklist tankers, close exchange houses, expose front companies and exclude foreign institutions from the dollar-based financial system. Treasury is already attacking Iran’s clandestine banking and oil-payment networks under Operation Economic Fury. U.S. Treasury enforcement action But Trump is promising something much larger. He says that any country, financial institution, business, airport or government agency providing Iran with an economic lifeline will face “tremendous economic consequences.” That amounts to an ultimatum directed not merely at Iran, but at the entire world: trade with Tehran and America will punish you.

That is an enormous threat. It is also precisely the kind of threat Trump has repeatedly failed to enforce once the financial and political consequences begin coming home.

The TACO Playbook

Since the Iran war began, Trump’s pattern has become painfully predictable:

Announce an apocalyptic consequence.
Establish a supposedly final deadline.
Cause oil markets and regional governments to panic.
Receive telephone calls from frightened Gulf rulers.
Claim that secret negotiations are making tremendous progress.
Postpone or cancel the promised attack.
Announce an even larger threat several weeks later.
On March 21, Trump gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or America would “obliterate” its power plants. Two days later, he postponed the attack for five days.

When those five days expired, Trump granted Iran another ten days. In April, Trump threatened “Power Plant Day” and “Bridge Day,” warned that the entire country could be destroyed in a single night and declared that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Hours later, the supposedly final attack was cancelled and replaced with a ceasefire.

In May, Trump warned that there would be “nothing left” of Iran and said a major attack was being prepared. The following day, it was postponed.
In July, Trump promised a “massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before.” Days later, he returned to negotiations.

At the beginning of August, Trump cancelled another major assault against Iranian energy infrastructure because the “perimeters” of an agreement had supposedly been reached. Iran then denied that negotiations were even scheduled. Trump subsequently called the situation Iran’s “last chance before decapitation.” Iran was not decapitated. Instead, the president has now exchanged military Armageddon for “Economic D-Day.” ABC News documented at least seven threatened attacks that Trump subsequently postponed or cancelled. Every time Trump establishes a red line and then moves it, Tehran learns that the red line was never real.

China Is The Real Test

The success or failure of “Economic D-Day” will be determined in Beijing, not Tehran. Iran survives through Chinese oil purchases, shadow tankers, shell companies, financial intermediaries and disguised payment networks. If Trump is serious, he will have to sanction major Chinese banks, refiners, shipping companies and businesses. He will have to accept Chinese retaliation, disrupted supply chains, falling markets, higher oil prices and increased gasoline prices for Americans. That is where the TACO clock begins ticking.

Targeting a few Iranian exchange houses and obscure front companies will generate impressive Treasury press releases, but it will not completely isolate Iran. If China continues purchasing Iranian oil while Trump issues exemptions, waivers and negotiating extensions, then “Economic D-Day” will become Economic Delay. Trump loves maximum-pressure announcements. He is considerably less enthusiastic about enduring maximum-pressure consequences. The public declaration supplied no detailed list of countries being targeted, no implementation timetable and no explanation of precisely what penalties will be imposed. Reporting on the announcement says its language suggests secondary sanctions—but suggesting punishment and imposing punishment are two very different things.

Clouds And Wind Without Rain

Trump’s strategy assumes that theatrical unpredictability creates leverage, and initially, it can. But unpredictability becomes predictable when every cycle ends with another postponement. Iran’s leaders understand that Trump watches oil prices, stock markets and domestic polling. They know that a modest diplomatic signal can provide him with an excuse to cancel an attack and proclaim that his negotiating genius has produced another historic breakthrough. That means Iran does not necessarily need to defeat the United States. It merely needs to survive Trump’s deadlines until TACO strikes again.

The King James Bible describes boasting unsupported by performance:

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” Proverbs 25:14 (KJB)

That is the danger surrounding “Economic D-Day.” America possesses the financial storm capable of crushing Iran, but Trump has repeatedly filled the sky with thunder only to deliver another extension. “Economic D-Day” may prove to be everything Trump promises. But after seven cancelled attacks and months of movable deadlines, Iran has every reason to ignore the thunder, watch the markets and wait for TACO Trump to chicken out again.

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Free Bible Program

The East Arkansas Regional Unit Is An Intimidating Facilty Housing Over 1,600 Inmates Who Desperately Need To Receive The Preserved Word Of God

Published

23 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The East Arkansas Regional Unit Houses Some Serious Inmates Who Have An Overwhelming Need To Receive The Preserved Word Of God

Seen from above, the East Arkansas Regional Unit is an imposing fortress of concrete, steel fencing and razor wire, housing more than 1,600 men across minimum, medium and maximum security classifications. Many of those men are serving long sentences for serious crimes, and we neither excuse their sins nor dismiss the suffering of their victims. But behind every prison number is a living soul who will one day stand before Almighty God, and incarceration does not place anyone beyond the reach of the gospel of the grace of God. To date, we’ve received word back from many chaplains placing the number of souls saved through this ministry at up over a thousand. Praise the Lord for that!

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (KJB)

The state can confine a man’s body, but it cannot imprison the word of God. Steel doors, guard towers and electrified fences are powerless to stop the Holy Spirit from using the Scriptures to convict a sinner and point him to Jesus Christ. Every King James Bible placed inside this prison and every facility we send to, is a missionary that never sleeps, never compromises and never stops preaching the truth. Chaplain Ray reached out to us wanting to know if we could supply him with Bibles, and I very happily assured him we would. Bibles Behind Bars is a lifeline for many chaplains and pastors who have no other place to turn to for Bibles, books and scripture portions. Come help us!

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If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

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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

Headline News

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: The Rise Of Christian Deliverance Ministries Has Turned Demons, Curses And Manifestations Into A Thriving Business Model

Published

2 days ago

August 18, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The Rise Of Christian Deliverance Ministries Has Turned Demons, Curses And Manifestations Into A Movement—But Is It Biblical Warfare Or A Charismatic Counterfeit?

The explosion of so-called Christian Deliverance Ministries has created an entire charismatic industry built around the idea that born-again believers can remain inhabited by demons, bound by generational curses and dependent upon specially “anointed” apostles and prophets to set them free. From Kathryn Krick and Greg Locke to Prophet GeorDavie and countless social-media imitators, the formula is remarkably similar: dramatic manifestations, screaming, shaking, falling, claims of hidden spirits, supernatural impartations and repeated deliverance sessions presented as evidence that God is moving. But spectacle is not Scripture, and manifestation is not doctrine. The apostle Paul never once instructs a member of the Body of Christ to locate a demon of lust, rejection, anger or addiction and have it cast out. Instead, Paul tells the saved believer that he has been sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, that his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and that God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” That creates a massive problem for a movement whose entire ministry model depends upon convincing Christians that darkness is still living inside them.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Colossians 1:13 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, the more closely you compare modern Deliverance Ministry theology with Pauline doctrine, the more the whole system begins to unravel. Paul does not tell Christians to cast out their flesh; he tells them to mortify it. He does not tell Christians to seek an apostle with a greater anointing; he tells them to put on the whole armour of God and stand against the wiles of the Devil. He does not teach generational demon bondage, spiritual “legal rights,” endless impartations or recurring deliverance appointments. What he does warn about are “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,” false apostles and religious counterfeits masquerading as ministers of righteousness. Satan is real, devils are real and spiritual warfare is absolutely real—but none of that gives us permission to invent doctrine God never gave the Church. Before accepting the screaming, the manifestations and the testimonies, there remains one devastating question every Deliverance Minister must answer from the King James Bible: Show me where Paul taught the Church to do this. Today we tell you everything you need to know about the modern-day Deliverance Movement.

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