“Islamilization” Takeovers by Radical Islamic Elements
Old Turkish Secularists Think Turkish PM like Antichrist
June 12, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Islamic Extremist Elements of the Worldwide Jihad Movement, within the Muslim Society, will not cease their gradual chewing away of any other mindset, until a massive Caliphate under Islamic Law
stretches from Morocco to India.
Begin Two Excerpts from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs – Daily Alert
Begin Excerpt 1
Al-Qaeda Groups Active in Gaza after Year under Hamas
Nidal al-Mughrabi (Reuters)
Analysts believe
al-Qaeda-allied radical groups like Jaysh al-Ummah (Army of the Nation) have benefited from the Hamas takeover in Gaza to expand their membership.
In addition, there has been an increase in attacks on Christians in the past year, apparently by Islamists not content with the extent of Hamas’ “Islamization” of Gaza.
Among the outward signs has been a proliferation of beards on men and headscarves on women, along with the virtual disappearance of alcohol.
Market stalls do brisk business in selling recordings of speeches of al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as videos of beheadings of U.S. and foreign soldiers and personnel in Iraq.
One Gaza political analyst noted: “Hamas is keen not to be seen as an Islamic state, so they’ve refrained from passing laws or f
orcing people to follow what they believe.
They have not taken action to Islamize the community. But allowing extremist thinking to breed armed cells is much more dangerous.”
Begin Excerpt 2
First Paragraph Excerpt from Speech by Secretary of State Rice
A Global Counterinsurgency
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Foreign Affairs)
The first challenge is the global ideology of violent Islamist extremism, as embodied by groups such as al-Qaeda, that thoroughly reject the basic tenets of modern politics, seeking instead to topple sovereign states, erase national borders, and restore the imperial structure of the ancient caliphate. Ultimately, this is more than just a struggle of arms; it is a contest of ideas. Al-Qaeda’s theory of victory is to hijack the legitimate local and national grievances of Muslim societies and twist them into an ideological narrative of endless struggle against Western, especially U.S., oppression.
Excerpt from the UK Guardian
Turkish PM fights for survival with plea for Islamists and secular judges to avoid clash
Erdogan hopes to deter court closure of AKP
Constitutional battle after new ruling on headscarves
Robert Tait in Istanbul
The Guardian (UK)
Wednesday June 11 2008
Turkey’s embattled prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, launched an attempt to save his political skin yesterday by seeking to lower tensions in a power struggle with the state’s secular establishment that threatens to split the country, close his party and oust him from office.
After days of simmering government anger, Erdogan pleaded with his supporters and Turkey’s most senior judges to avoid a “clash of powers” following a ruling that overturned a law allowing female university students to wear the Islamic headscarf.
“Everyone should refrain from actions that make the rule of law, absolute supremacy of the constitution and our constitutional institutions matters of discussion,” he said in a televised address to parliament in the capital, Ankara. “No one should try to benefit from such attempts.
We have to take Turkey out of such a ‘clash of powers’ environment.”
His tone was markedly more conciliatory than that of other government figures and appeared calculated to avoid antagonising the constitutional court before it hears a separate case calling for the ruling justice and development party (AKP) to be shut down, and Erdogan and 70 other leading figures
to be banned from politics for five years for alleged anti-secularism.
Some AKP members had taken a much harder line after the court last Thursday ruled that the headscarf was a symbol of political Islam that threatened Turkey’s secular system established under Atatürk. Many MPs accused it of usurping the government’s powers and dem
anded parliamentary action to annul the ruling. But Erodgan merely called on the court to explain its actions.
“Legislative powers belong only to the elected parliament. No one has the right to put itself in the place of the legislative,” he said.
Last week’s ruling, which prompted the government to hold six hours of emergency talks, has led many to conclude that Erdogan is doomed when the court delivers its verdict in the party closure case, which is expected in the autumn. The case is based on a 162-page indictment compiled by the chief prosecutor. It cites the headscarf law, a host of Erdogan’s statements and AKP actions at local government level, including bans on alcohol sales.
Some analysts depicted yesterday’s remarks as a l
ast-ditch effort by the prime minister to placate his enemies in the judiciary and armed forces, the ultimate arbiters of Turkish political power.
“Erdogan is trying to save his skin but it’s too late,” said Cengiz Aktar, a professor on EU affairs at Istanbul’s Bahçesehir University. “The guy has been yielding to the demands of the establishment for weeks but they don’t want to listen any more. He is considered an outsider and there are a lot of personal animosities.
Many people in the old establishment simply hate him – they think he represents a sort of Antichrist.
“Even if he does survive, what then
? This country’s constitution was not designed for reform but to protect the state against its citizens.
The era of reform is over.”
Soli Ozel, an analyst at Bilgi University, said Erdogan was trying to prevent possible military intervention: “The whole aim of the closure case is to get Erdogan’s head. But further polarisation doesn’t suit the AKP’s interests. It’s much better to form a new party than be more confrontational and bring about a final clash – the ultimate form of which would be a military takeover.”
The long-standing headscarf ban was passed by parliament in February to much acclaim from religious conservatives, who saw it as ending unfair discrimination, but it was greeted with dismay and protests from secularists.
The AKP, which has roots in political Islam but draws support from across the middle class, championed the reform on grounds of religious freedom and insisted that it posed no threat to secularism.
Analysts expect the AKP, which won an emphatic majority at last year’s general election, to re-form under a different name if it is closed down. Some say the party’s parliamentary majority would allow the new party to continue in office without Erdogan and the other figures subject to a possible ban.
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