Headlines:
- Turkey needs ‘Israel’, Erdogan says
- FM: Turkey to take active part in Saudi-led military coalition
- Turkey’s Erdogan Cites Hitler’s Nazi Germany as ‘Effective’ Presidential System
- 200 Muslim Meat-Packers Fired in the US over Prayer Dispute
- Trump Muslim Remark Used in Jihadist Recruitment Video
- Putin Names NATO among Threats in New Russian Security Strategy
- India and Pakistan Try Again
Turkey needs ‘Israel’, Erdogan says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey and ‘Israel’ must improve their relations, stressing that his country needs the Tel Aviv regime.
“Israel is in need of a country like Turkey in the region. And we too must accept that we need Israel. This is a reality in the region,” the Turkish president said on Saturday.
Erdogan added that normalization of ties between Turkey and ‘Israel’ would take place “if mutual steps are implemented based on sincerity.”
The Turkish president made the remarks as he was speaking to reporters during his flight back from Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.
Relations between the two sides took a nose dive in May 2010 after Israeli forces stormed the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara, as it was on its way to deliver aid to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, killing several activists.
Following the incident, ambassadors were withdrawn and Erdogan said ‘Israel’ had to formally apologize over the killings, pay compensation for the victims, and lift the Gaza blockade in order for ties to be normalized.
‘Israel’ has apologized for the incident and negotiations are still under way for compensation but the blockade on Gaza remains in place.
On December 26, the Turkish daily, Today’s Zaman, citing unnamed sources, said Ankara was looking forward to purchasing military hardware such as advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and reconnaissance and surveillance systems from Tel Aviv, hinting at the possible resumption of military ties between the two sides.
‘Israel’ and Turkey recently reached a preliminary agreement to normalize ties following the 2010 incident, unnamed officials from Tel Aviv and Ankara said last month.
The deal was reached during a secret meeting in Switzerland between Yossi Cohen, the incoming head of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s point-man for Turkish reconciliation Joseph Ciechanover and Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu.
Under the deal, Israel should compensate the victims of the raid. Ankara and Tel Aviv would also exchange envoys and hold talks on the restart of gas exports to Turkey. [Source: PressTV]
Until Erdogan’s so called “One Minute Challenge” Turkish-“Israeli” relations supposed to get worse. But it was no secret to those who follow the news that these relations had never worsen. At last confessions about Turkey-“Israel” relations came directly from President Erdogan.
FM: Turkey to take active part in Saudi-led military coalition
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Turkey will take part in every aspect of the Saudi-led military alliance to combat terrorism.
“We will take part in every stage of the mechanism to be formed in Riyadh. We will continue to provide support [efforts] against terrorism and increasing Islamophobia due to the rise of terrorism,” said Cavusoglu in a joint press conference with his counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, on Wednesday.
A 34-state Islamic military coalition was formed under the leadership of Saudi Arabia on Dec. 15. The announcement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said the alliance was being established because terrorism “should be fought by all means and collaboration should be made to eliminate it.
At a press conference the same day, Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman told reporters that the new Islamic military coalition will develop mechanisms for working with other countries and international bodies to “coordinate” efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.
Cavusoglu also hailed the progress made in the UN-sponsored peace talks to end months of fighting in Yemen.
A cease-fire took effect in Yemen on Dec. 15 as, through peace talks in Switzerland, parties agreed to end the civil war that has killed 6,000 people.
The main task for the negotiations will be agreeing on how to implement a UN Security Council Resolution in April that called on the Houthis to quit the capital, Sanaa, and other cities they seized in late 2014 and early 2015. [Source: Today’s Zaman]
This USA-led coalition, not Saudi-led coalition, is trying to be alternative to a global Khilafah State, but it will never be able to take its place. Fear of the return of the Khilafah Rashidah (Caliphate) forces the “International Community” to unite their partners under a Khilafah-like unity so that the Muslim society’s yearning demand to a real unity can be distorted. This futile efforts will not going to work. The consciousness and the vigilance of the Ummah will overcome this diversion.
Turkey’s Erdogan Cites Hitler’s Nazi Germany as ‘Effective’ Presidential System
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to increase the powers of his office, cited Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany as an example of an “effective” presidential system.
“There are already examples in the world. You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany,” Erdogan told reporters on a return trip from Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.
“There are later examples in various other countries,” he added.
Erdogan, who has a history of making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, is attempting to revamp Turkey’s constitution by moving the presidency away from a largely ceremonial role to a strong chief executive, like the presidencies of the United State or France. Many in Turkey fear that Erdogan is seeking to consolidate more power for himself and his Islamist AKP party.
In June, the AKP failed to gain a majority in parliamentary elections, but after another election in November, the party secure a majority, paving the way for Erdogan to make constitutional changes.
Despite Erdogan’s latest remarks and past tension with Israel, Turkey and Israel are reportedly close to normalizing diplomatic relations. But differences remain over Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Turkey wants ‘Israel’ to lift its blockade of the coastal territory. [Source: The Algemeiner]
Once you become distant to your Islamic roots nothing can hold you in place. Finally, you find yourself in confusion.
200 Muslim Meat-Packers Fired in the US over Prayer Dispute
Company terminates Somalian immigrants who walked out claiming not enough was being done to accommodate prayer times. Nearly 200 Muslim employees have been fired from a meat-packing plant after downing tools following a dispute over praying at work. The workers, mostly Somalian immigrants, staged a walkout to protest what they said was insufficient accommodation of prayer time at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan, Colorado. The company has provided a “reflection room” for Muslim employees to pray since 2009 but the workers claimed there had been a change to the policy. The company, an agribusiness giant that employs 155,000 people in 68 countries, said there had been a “misunderstanding” and its policy of allowing time for prayer had not changed. A spokesman said plant managers met with the workers, members of the Somali community, and union leaders following the walk-out but were unable to resolve the issue. “At no time did Cargill prevent people from prayer at Fort Morgan. Nor have we changed policies related to religious accommodation and attendance. This has been mischaracterised.” The spokesman told the Denver Post: “It’s an unfortunate situation that may be based somewhere in a misunderstanding. There has been a desire among some employees to go in larger groups of people to pray. We just can’t accommodate that. It backs up the flow of all the production. We have to ensure food safety. We have to ensure the products we produce meet consumer expectations.” [Source: The Daily Telegraph]
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«يأتي زمانٌ على أمتي القابض على دينه كالقابض على جمرة من النار»
“There will come a time of patience upon people wherein one adhering to his religion will be as if he were grasping a hot coal.” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2260]
Trump Muslim Remark Used in Jihadist Recruitment Video
Republican White House frontrunner Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the US have been used by Somalia’s Shebab in a jihadist recruitment video, a US monitoring group said Saturday. The Al Qaeda-affiliated Shebab use an excerpt from Trump’s December 7 speech to try and woo Muslims in the West to wage jihad. In his speech, Trump proposed a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the US until the US was “able to determine and understand this problem” of Islamist violence, following the killing of 14 people by a radicalised couple in California. The video, which lasts more than 50 minutes, specifically targets black youths, urging them to convert to Islam and leave for the Somali battlefield. It portrays America as a country hostile to its Muslim population, with the narrator claiming that “in the United States, basic human rights and concepts such as justice, tolerance, and the rule of law do not apply if you are a Muslim”. Trump’s inflammatory remarks sparked a wave of global outrage, with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton warning that his words were playing into the hands of extremist groups. During a Democratic debate last month, Clinton accused Trump of being “ISIS’s best recruiter,” referring to the self-described Islamic State group, and said the radical jihadists were “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.” [Source: Yahoo News]
Allah says:
قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ
“Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse.”
(Al-i-Imran: 118)
Putin Names NATO among Threats in New Russian Security Strategy
Russia has designated NATO’s activities a threat to its national security and accused the US of pursuing a policy of containment towards it, in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Moscow and the west. The statements are contained in a paper on Russia’s national security strategy which was signed by president Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve, updating the previous version from 2009. They echo increasingly anti-western rhetoric employed by Mr Putin in the past two years, as relations between Russia and the west have soured over the annexation of Crimea and war in east Ukraine. The document lists a series of complaints against NATO, including “the intensification of military activities of member countries”, “further expansion of the alliance”, and “moving military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders”, which it describes as a threat to national security. Describing “new threats to national security which have a complex, interrelated character”, the strategy document accuses the US and its allies of “attempting to maintain their dominance in global affairs” by carrying out a “policy of containment of Russia”. This, it says, leads to “political, economic, military and informational pressure” on Russia. The accusations against NATO and the US in Russia’s official national security policy are likely to further strain relations between Moscow and the west. In an updated military strategy published a year ago, Russia stopped short of explicitly describing NATO or the US as threats or enemies. In the 2009 version of the national security strategy — developed under the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, now prime minister — Moscow criticised NATO expansion and the US move to build a missile defence system in Europe, but did not designate these actions a threat to Russia. [Source: FT]
Russia’s aggressive posture is a clear indication that America’s domination of Europe is under threat. It also signals a move away from unipolarity to multipolarity, with Russia, China and Europe all competing with America’s primacy in different parts of the world.
India and Pakistan Try Again
Mr. Modi’s visit to Pakistan was arranged on short notice and marked the first visit by an Indian prime minister in almost 12 years. Mr. Sharif’s warm greeting and hosting of Mr. Modi at the Sharif family home set a welcome atmosphere for talks aimed at resuming a stalled dialogue on critical economic and security issues. But while the two leaders got the political optics right, the challenge, as always, will be overcoming formidable obstacles at home. Mr. Sharif has pressed for engagement with India; Mr. Modi has been conflicted. He invited Mr. Sharif to his inauguration last year but soon after canceled high-level talks, annoyed that Pakistani diplomats had met with separatist leaders from disputed Kashmir. Mr. Modi has also taken a harder line than his predecessor on security issues involving Pakistan. Domestic constraints limit both leaders, especially Mr. Sharif. His power is eclipsed by an army that controls the fastest-growing nuclear weapons program in the world and has long played a double game of taking American assistance while supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan as well as militants opposed to India. Mr. Modi seems to have finally decided that better relations are not only necessary, but require his personal involvement. He may also have concluded that improved ties with Pakistan could help him realize his domestic ambitions, which include transforming India into an economic power. So far he has not delivered on that promise, spurring protests by middle-class Indians demanding more good jobs. American officials say they believe that Pakistan’s army has become more serious about fighting the Taliban and encouraging peace talks because the generals are increasingly worried that a Taliban victory could make Afghanistan a more attractive magnet for the Islamic State and other militants who could threaten Pakistan. Other experts are doubtful. Whether a stronger personal connection between Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif can lead to real trust and cooperation on such issues remains to be seen. [Source: New York Times]
America is pushing for normalization between India and Pakistan, so that India can focus on its new role, which is the containment of China. However, it is expected that no significant progress will be made until Obama steps down and the new President of the US assumes office.