Tag: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey and the future of the Eastern Mediterranean
“Instability in the Eastern Mediterranean” is a commonplace phrase, and with good reason. In parallel with the civil wars in Syria and Libya, the power play between the United States and Russia, the Israeli-Palestinian...
Turkey’s Hagia Sophia opens as mosque with Erdoğan reciting first prayer
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joined hundreds of Muslim worshippers in Istanbul on Friday for the first prayers from the Koran in nearly 90 years inside the Hagia Sophia, once one of Christianity’s most...
Turkey’s mad sultan
Last week, in defiance of Pope Francis and the entire Christian world, Sultan Erdoğan’s dream became reality. Images depicting the Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin Mary and Christ Pantocrator, along with numerous other famous mosaics...
Has Erdoğan launched a new age of religious wars?
To understand just how dishonest the discussion about Jerusalem is conducted in venues where Israel is regarded with hostility like The New York Times, you need to start by discussing events in Istanbul, Turkey.
Last week,...
Is Erdoğan’s decision to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque a sign of...
The decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to convert the Hagia Sophia Cathedral turned museum in Istanbul back into a mosque reinforces his long-held plans for promoting Islamic supremacy and lifts his sagging...
Erdoğan: Hagia Sophia ‘resurrection’ harbinger for Al-Aqsa ‘liberation’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on Friday that the “resurrection” of the ancient Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul as a mosque bodes well for the “liberation” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. He...
Erdoğan is driving a wedge between Europe and the Middle East
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is using the chaos of civil war in Libya to carve out a new Turkish power base in the Maghreb. Erdoğan’s ambitions in North Africa will not only disrupt...
Erdoğan: ‘We will not allow Palestinian lands to be offered to anyone’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a video message posted on social media on Monday that “we will not allow Palestinian lands to be offered to anyone.”
In the video, which was addressed to...
Turkish bank pleads not guilty to charges of evading Iran sanctions
Turkish state bank Halkbank pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to U.S. charges of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The plea was entered by the company’s lawyer, Robert Cary, in an arraignment conducted by U.S. District...
Turkey’s Erdoğan says Turkish military has begun deploying in Libya
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday that the Turkish military has started moving units to Libya to support the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, Reuters reported.
“There will be an operation...