Yesterday according to the online publication The Economist a headline read; “President Erdogan sacks Turkey’s central-bank head, risking a currency crisis.” The Sub header read; “The defenestration of Murat Cetinkaya, coupled with the threat of American sanctions, is bad news for the ailing economy.” In the article it was stated; “Turkey’s economy had just begun to show signs of life. Thanks to high interest rates, the attempts to mitigate a crisis with the United States, and some measure of calm following local elections, the lira was beginning to strengthen. Inflation had dipped to 16%, down from 25% last autumn. In the small hours of July 6th, Turkey’s president undid much of the recent progress by sacking Murat Cetinkaya, the head of the central bank. Later that day, Mr Erdogan compounded the damage by proclaiming that high lending rates were to blame for inflation (a view roundly mocked by economists), undermining the central bank and making clear that when it came to monetary policymaking, he was in charge.”

         History does have a way of repeating itself. King Solomon wrote; “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) One of the ways a country can get itself out of economic difficulties is to start a war which has as its springboard a strong nationalistic emphasis. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930’s after the stock market crash on Wall Street that brought on the Great Depression. In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash on the US stock exchange brought about a global economic depression. In Europe, Germany was worst affected because American banks called in all of their foreign loans at very short notice. These loans, agreed under the Dawes Plan in 1924, had been the basis for Weimar’s economic recovery from the disaster of hyperinflation. The loans funded German industry and helped to pay reparations. Without these loans German industry collapsed and a depression began.

        German industry lost its finances, production was lowered significantly, and workers were laid off. People spent less, prices dropped and the demand for goods and services decreased dramatically. As industry lost more money production was lowered even further and more workers were laid off. People spent even less and prices dropped again leading to the depression. The most obvious consequence of this economic collapse in Germany was a huge rise in unemployment. Over the winter of 1929-30 the number of unemployed rose from 1.4 million to over 2 million. By the time Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 one in three Germans were unemployed, with the figure hitting 6.1 million. Industrial production had also more than halved over the same period. When people are unemployed, hungry and desperate, as millions were in Germany between 1930 and 1933, they often turn to extreme political parties offering simple solutions to their problems. Between 1930 and 1933 support for the extreme right-wing Nazis and the extreme left-wing communists soared. By 1932 parties committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic held 319 seats out of a total of 608 in the Reichstag, with many workers turning to communism. However, the real beneficiaries were the Nazis.

        At present there seems to be a breath of fresh air in the political scene in Turkey and even a shift in political power to a degree but President Erdogan still seeks to keep a tight rein on the people and the politics of Turkey. There is no doubt that President Erdogan has a very strong nationalistic spirit that is centred in the resurrection of the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate. No guesses for who he see as the first Caliph of this resurrected empire. He clearly identifies with the goals and ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood whose agenda is a Global Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood is a religious and political group founded on the belief that Islam is not simply a religion, but a way of life. It advocates a move away from secularism, and a return to the rules of the Quran as a basis for families, communities, and states. Their creed states “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” On their official emblem or logo they have the image of two crossed swords pointing upwards. In pointing upwards they signify a readiness to fight. This is one of the faces of Islam today namely being the subjugation of all non-Muslims by the sword.

        President Erdogan’s globetrotting exploits over the years has been with the intent of firming up his position as the one in line for the supreme caliph of the Islamic world. The resurrected Turkish Ottoman Caliphate beast empire would provide this system of government along the lines of the creed of the Muslim Brotherhood. Outwardly at present it looks like things are not good for President Erdogan and his political party and there is opposition both at the political and social level as there was to Adolph Hitler, but Hitler, infusing into the people of Germany a nationalistic spirit, gave them a focus on someone who supposedly could get the country out of its economic crisis. Hitler gave them a war! The sacking of Turkey’s Banking Head is just another ploy in Erdogan keeping control over the nation and blaming the bank for the failing economy. President Erdogan knows that the key to his rise to power is to control the nation’s finances, remove the opposition by fair means or foul and arrange things in such a way that people will be desperate to find a way out of the economic depression that seems to be rising in Turkey.

        At the end if people can have their financial and social security and the benefits that come from it then they will not be that concerned who is in power. Adolph Hitler, by the power of a principality (demon spirit), mesmerised the masses in Germany to follow his form of nationalistic pride in German power and the people followed him. President Erdogan still has the power to enchant the people with rhetoric concerning Turkey’s past greatness and glory and to start a war in the Middle-east which requires the cooperation and backing of the nation and its Muslim allies such as Iran. If President Erdogan is indeed the man of sin then his power will be greater than that of Adolph Hitler. It was a demon spirit that controlled Hitler but it will be Satan himself who will indwell the man of sin also called the son of perdition. The only other man in the Bible called the son of perdition was Judas Iscariot of whom we are told “Satan entered him.” America may even place sanctions on Turkey but in the Islamic world money is not a problem. The Mahdi of Islam is expected to come by the whole Islamic world. When he comes he will have the backing of the Islamic financial world. (Daniel 11:38b, 43)

         Someone in the character of President Erdogan or the President himself, whom can be called “the Globetrotting Caliph” may well pull off the resurrection of the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate. While there are those who are saying President Erdogan’s political power is declining they need to realise that the same was being said of Adolph Hitler in the 1930’s but Hitler proved them wrong. I am persuaded that Turkey will be the main player in the rise of Global Islam and yes, that Turkey will be the seat of the Antichrist’s rise to power. The Apostle John wrote seven letters to seven churches in what is today modern day Turkey. These seven churches that existed in John’s time can prophetically represent the Church collectively at any time in history. They can also represent seven types of churches that will exist in the last days. When John writes to the Assembly at Pergamum he says; “These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” (Revelation 2:12-13) Notice John mentions two things about Satan. It is where he has his throne and the city where he lives.

        Also it is interesting that Pergamum was the city where Emperor Worship in the Roman Empire went into full swing with the deification of Augustus. One of the most dramatic structures of the acropolis at Pergamum in John’s time was what scholars believe to be the Temple of Zeus. The altar believed to be associated with the temple, known today as the Great Altar of Pergamum, was moved to Berlin in the 19th century by German archaeologists, who evidently had an easy time getting permission for its removal from the indifferent authorities of the Ottoman Empire. The apostle John, keeping in mind that idolatry was demon worship, saw by the revelation of the blessed Holy Spirit, the seat of satanic power personified in the Altar. I am strongly inclined to think that when the Holy Spirit inspired John to write his seven letters to the churches in Turkey that, in His divine foreknowledge as God the Holy Spirit, it was revealed to John that in the last days the faithful Body of the Messiah on a global scale would have to face the man of sin and his beast empire and that he would arise in Turkey.

        When you see Islam making inroads into most western nations today inevitably persecution will come to the saints of God. (Daniel 7:21, 23-24; 8:12, 24; 12:7) (Revelation 13:7) It is already happening and will escalate in in frequency and intensity just before the Lord Jesus comes back to put everything right! It is highly likely that in out day we will see the Antichrist himself climb to power on the back of a failing economy in Turkey and that having being empowered by Satan himself, will rise to power through the resurrected Caliphate and gain the following of the whole Islamic world. At the end of three and a half years it will be the Messiah Himself that will bring the Antichrist’s reign of terror to an abrupt end! (Daniel 7:11, 22, 26-27; 11:45) (Matthew 24:21-22) (Revelation 19:20) As in all matters related to Biblical prophecy and its fulfilment historically time will tell of course but our sure guide in these matters is not the opinions of man but only what is clearly revealed in the Word of God. Concerning Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan we can ask the question, “will it be the failing economy or the rising Caliphate?”