President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it seems is the ultimate past master of intrigue and subterfuge. According to a report in the Hurriyet Daily News online on April 19, 2019 it was reported he had released a message expressing Passover (Pesach) holiday greetings to the nation’s Jewish community. He said; “Our social structure, based on respect for peace and all beliefs, cemented with mutual love and respect and enriched by its differences, is the foundation of our firm unity and solidarity,” As most of you know Passover commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt under the Prophet Moses, and is one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar. Stressing Turkey’s multicultural, multi-faith character, Mr Erdoğan emphasized the importance that all sectors of Turkish society “live their religions and traditions freely.” He continued; “On the occasion of their holidays, I would like to express my best wishes to all Jews, especially our Jewish citizens, with whom we live in peace, and greet them with my heart.”
However, in an article in the Belief Net News dated March 3, 2018 it said about Christians in Turkey; “Like other Islamic-majority states, the rights of Christians in Turkey have never been the same as those of the Muslim majority—not in the Ottoman Empire and not today. Modern-day laws remain biased in favour of Muslims. Church buildings are not allowed to be taller than certain heights while enormous mosques are built on the highest hilltops. Christian worship services are only permitted in “buildings created for the purpose. Turks who openly discuss Christianity face harassment, threats, and imprisonment. Most churches are surrounded by high walls and protected by 24-hour guards.” This is Turkey today!
What are we to make of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s supposed favourable comments to the Jews in Turkey at Passover? Is he practicing taqiyya? Somehow Mr Erdogan seems to be contradicting himself concerning his real attitude towards the Jewish people that he has expressed publically in the past. In Breaking Israel News online in December 23, 2018, it stated; “Erdogan Hopes for Muslim Reconquest of Jerusalem and Tells Youth; “As Muslims, we deal with people directly, and if there are people who are brave enough to provoke us, we will teach them a lesson.” Mr Erdogan also told the audience, “Don’t be like the Jews.” A number of Turkish journalists tweeted that some in the crowd called out for Erdogan to bring about the Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem. Erdogan replied, “Soon, God willing.’”
Again in the online publication of The Times of Israel on December 22, 2018 it comments on what he said to Turkish youth: “Jews in Israel’ beat Palestinian women and children. The Jews in Israel kick people lying on the ground. In fact, Jews don’t kick men but also women and children when they fall on the ground,” he told those young Turks at an Istanbul meeting of the Turkey Youth Foundation. “But as Muslims, we will confront these people [the Jews] if they have courage to deal with us and we’ll teach them a lesson,” Erdogan added.
According to the publication Algeneiner on December 13, 2017 a headline read; “Erdogan Invokes Islamic Text Sanctioning Killing Jews at Party Convention”. He said to his constituents at this convention; “those who think they own Jerusalem better know that tomorrow they won’t be able to hide behind trees,” he said… This is a veiled threat of killing each and every Jew with a shocking reference to apocalyptic prophecy of tree story,’ Bozkurt an Islamic scholar wrote. “The full hadith says: ‘The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews, and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: ‘Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him;’ but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.’” (See-Sahih Muslim Book 041, Number 6985)
Mr Erdogan’s real attitude to the Jewish people is seen in what he said as reported in the Times of Israel in September 23, 2014; “There are times when I personally am labelled as an anti-Semitic person. Criticizing Israel’s massacres that defy international law, and trample on human rights and life is not anti-Semitism…And it isn’t anti-Semitism to criticize an administration that massacres, kills babies, children, innocent babies, children, in their homes, mosques, hospitals, schools, beaches, parks, without any discrimination.’” Clearly the man from Turkey is no friend of Israel or the Jewish people. According to a report on CBN News online in October 2017 it read; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Arabs to ascend to the Temple Mount in droves to protect the al-Aksa Mosque. He also warned against Israeli attempts to Judaize Jerusalem.
At the International Forum on the al-Quds Waqf that year, Erdogan told participants that every day under Israeli occupation is an “insult to Muslims.” (Muslims refer to Jerusalem as al-Quds.) “We, as Muslims, should be visiting al-Quds more often,” he said. “Each day that Jerusalem is under occupation is an insult to us.” He didn’t stop there. He likened Israel’s treatment of Arabs to South Africa under apartheid. He denounced the Knesset’s pending legislation aimed at lowering loudspeakers from mosques as an infringement on Muslim’s religious freedom, saying he would not allow it. He also warned President Trump at the time not to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Erdogan later told Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah that Muslims must unite to protect Israeli attempts to Judaize Jerusalem.
At one time the Lord Jesus Himself said to the implacable Pharisees “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) When you consider what President Erdogan has said over the years concerning Israel and the Jewish people it is clear that he is not a friend of Israel or the Jews or of Christians for that matter. It is very clear what is in his heart in abundance. At present he is seeking to present himself as somewhat benevolent as he jostles with his political opponents in Turkey and with the wavering opinions of many Turkish people concerning his ability to lead the nation because he lost the election.
Added to this, as he seeks to maintain his seeming ‘benevolence’ in the eyes of other Muslim leaders globally, he needs to keep them onside for his ultimate goal namely to establish a revived Turkish Ottoman Empire with himself as the Supreme Caliph of the Islamic world, something that many Muslim political leaders and clerics have already affirmed. Indeed when you review Mr Erdogan’s track record over the years it reminds us of what Daniel the prophet spoke about concerning the character of the future Antichrist.
Daniel writes; “A stern faced king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power (but by Satanic power), And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people (Jews and Christians). “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart (seeking to be worshipped as God), And he will destroy many while they are at ease (having been lulled into a false sense of peace through taqiyya). He will even oppose the Prince of princes (the Messiah our Lord Jesus), But he will be broken without human agency (God Himself will destroy this man of sin). “The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future.” (Daniel 8:23-26)
Contextually and historically Daniel describes Antiochus Epiphanies but prophetically he describes the future Antichrist who will come in the character of Antiochus and an Islamic leader who will cross the dried up Euphrates River accompanied by a 200 million strong Islamic army. (Daniel 36ff) (Revelation 9:14-19; 15:12-16) President Erdogan seems to present two faces. While expressing his best wishes to the Jewish people at this time of the Passover Celebration he cannot deny what he has said in the past concerning Israel and the Jewish people and especially concerning the status of Jerusalem. Indeed Jeremiah was right when he prophesied concerning the rise of global Islam. “We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies.” (Jeremiah 51:9)
