The possible outcomes for Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad generally range from bad to worse, though the regime’s end may serve U.S. interests in the region.
Assad’s regime was well-known for the brutality it directed toward its own people as Assad sought to maintain power through a lengthy and bloody civil war. But with terror groups and jihadis in control of large swaths of the country, Syria’s next government could be as harsh or worse toward religious and ethnic minorities.
“Domestically, [Assad’s ouster] is probably going to result in chaos because, prior to Hafez al-Assad&#8217;s taking over 50 years ago, there was one coup after another in Syria,” Hillsdale College history professor Dr. Paul Rahe told The Daily Wire.
<div id="attachment_843363" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-843363" class="size-large wp-image-843363" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188582619-864x576.jpg" alt="Syrians Gather In The Umayyad Square In The Heart Of Damascus To Celebrate The Fall Of The Assad Regime On December 9, 2024.(Photo by Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188582619-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188582619-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188582619-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188582619.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via Getty Images</div>
That chaos is largely a result of Syria’s creation out of imperial holdings of the British and French after the first world war, according to Rahe.
“The crucial thing to understand is that Syria is artificial. It goes back to the divvying up of the Near East between the British and the French after World War I. So, there really isn&#8217;t a country there,” Rahe said.
“The difficulties in bringing order to Syria other than the kind of order that Assad imposed – which is violent and dictatorial and tyrannical – the difficulty is very, very great. I don&#8217;t think we should expect this to produce a new awakening for Syria and good things,” he continued. “It may be good for us, … but I wouldn’t be shocked if the civil war continued.”
Amid the chaos, Russia risks the loss of its Tartus naval base on the Mediterranean, as well as the Khmeimim airbase, an important staging post between Russia and its operations in Africa. Iran’s losses are arguably greater. Tehran has spent decades building networks and infrastructure in Syria to supply its terror proxies throughout the region.
<div id="attachment_842239" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-842239" class="wp-image-842239 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-1024x576.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - An aerial photo shows Syrian naval ships destroyed during an overnight Israeli attack on the port city of Latakia on December 10, 2024. The UN special envoy for Syria on December 10 called on Israel to halt its military movements and bombardments inside Syria, days after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2188589898-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />An aerial photo shows Syrian naval ships destroyed during an overnight Israeli attack on the port city of Latakia on December 10, 2024. (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Whether Moscow and Tehran can maintain the influence they had with the new regional authority remains to be seen, though the odds are doubtful. Reports say both Russia and Iran have pulled resources out of the country in the days since Assad’s ouster.
The group responsible for Assad’s fall is Ha’yat Tehrir al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terror group that led the rebel coalition against the Assad regime. HTS is led by a man who, until recently, was known by his nom de guerre <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-mohammad-al-jolani" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Abu Mohammad al-Jolani</a>. He dropped the name while distancing himself from his radical Islamist past, recently reverting to his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Sharaa, with his past ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, is wanted under a $10 million bounty by the United States.
Sharaa is closely aligned with Turkey and its autocratic ruler, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leaving the Turks in the best position to influence the possible next leader of Syria. That influence could have a significant impact on how U.S. interests in the region are served, according to Rahe.
“Whether it&#8217;s in our interest or in the interest of the Israelis depends to a great degree on the policy of Turkey, and there&#8217;s no clarity about the policy of Turkey with regard to Israel,” Rahe said. “At times, the Erdogan government has cooperated very closely with the Israelis. At other times, it has been strongly hostile to Israel.”
Despite the questions surrounding Turkey, the fact that Tehran is no longer the dominant state sponsor in Syria bodes well.
“[Assad] was a pawn of Iran, so the weakening of Iran is very good for us,” Rahe said. “If it turns out to be a radical Islamist regime on the border of Israel, it will be trouble. But will it be as much trouble as Iran was with Assad, with Hezbollah, with the Houthis? I think not. So, on the whole, I think it’s a piece of luck for us.”
<div id="attachment_843367" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-843367" class="size-large wp-image-843367" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2189513052-864x576.jpg" alt="UNSPECIFIED, SYRIA - DECEMBER 11: Islamist rebels of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stand guard at the entrance of the first abandoned military base that reads Our Leader Forever - Hafez al-Assad on December 11, 2024, inside Lebanons border with Syria, Rebel forces in Syria have retaken the capital from longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who has fled the country for Moscow. The fall of the Assad regime marks a new chapter for Syria, which has been mired in a multi-party civil war since 2011, sparked by the Arab Spring uprisings. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2189513052-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2189513052-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2189513052-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2189513052.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Scott Peterson/Getty Images</div>
The United States has roughly 1,000 troops in Syria, left over from forces ordered there under the Obama administration to fight the rise of the Islamic State. President Joe Biden has dedicated American forces toward that aim again, launching dozens of airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria in the past week.
“We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its capability and to create a safe haven. We will not let that happen,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/12/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-latest-developments-in-syria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in remarks from the White House on December 8.
Biden’s limited interventions in Syria appear to be more than President-elect Donald Trump prefers or would pursue after he takes office in January.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, &amp; THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT,” Trump said in a recent post on Truth Social. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
But with Assad out and Syria’s future governance in doubt for the first time in 50 years, should the United States move in to assert its influence and interests in the new regime? According to Rahe, that would be a bad idea based more on hubris than reality.
“It&#8217;s too easy for Americans to exaggerate American agency, our capacity to fix things, to shape things. The prudent thing to do is to watch and wait,” Rahe told The Daily Wire. “If a government emerges and it&#8217;s in control of the territory, we should recognize it and our diplomats should try to work with it. Then we’ll see.”
“But we can’t control this,” he continued. “The Russians can’t control it. The Iranians can’t control it. And my guess is, in the end, the Turks can’t control it, though they can influence things.”

TOPSHOT-SYRIA-CONFLICT

‘We Can’t Control This’: The Fall Of Assad And The Future Of Syria

Bashar Assad

Iran

Middle East

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Syria

Turkey

Federal prosecutors appear to be zeroing in on New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/eric-adams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Adams</a> (D) in their corruption investigation into whether his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations in exchange for actions that he took as mayor.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/nyregion/eric-adams-fbi-investigation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare&amp;sgrp=c-cb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the prosecutors recently served a new round of grand jury subpoenas in their criminal investigation, including to Adams himself, who they are now investigating.
Prior to this development, most information that was publicly available pointed to prosecutors focusing only on his campaign and not the mayor directly, even though they seized his electronic devices last year.
The investigation, which is being run out of the Southern District of New York, centers around allegations that Adams’ election campaign received illegal campaign contributions from the Turkish government, possibly in exchange for actions taken by Adams, who has close ties to the country.
The criminal probe has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-grand-jury-reviewing-evidence-in-criminal-corruption-probe-involving-nyc-democrat-mayor-adams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">focused</a> on free upgrades the mayor received on Turkish Airlines flights and on Adams pressuring then-Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro in 2021 to allow the Turkish government to at least have permission to occupy on a temporary basis a new high-rise consulate in Manhattan that the Turkish government built, which fire officials would not sign off on because of safety issues.
Adams’ alleged intervention “paved the way” for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to preside over the grand opening of their 35-story tower in September 2021. Fire officials said that there were serious safety concerns with the building’s fire safety system. The building, which cost $300 million, is the country’s most expensive foreign mission project.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723831707612000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0pyrv88A5nsmWM2F2Wr9As">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
“To be clear, we have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the mayor,” said two lawyers who are representing Adams and his campaign. “To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the U.S. attorney.”
Adams <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/08/16/nyc-mayor-adams-believes-he-did-nothing-wrong-after-fbi-subpoena-in-campaign-probe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the latest development in a radio interview on Friday morning where he maintained his innocence and said he &#8220;did nothing wrong.&#8221;
“We’ve been extremely transparent about making sure if there are documents that’s looked at, they want to see text messages or any other items, we’re going to turn it over and walk away, I believe, showing that I did nothing wrong,” Adams said. “I am a former law enforcement person, I believe in following the rules, and I’ve stated over and over again and our team knows that we’re going to turn over any information that is needed.”

Eric Adams

Federal Prosecutors Appear To Zero In On NYC Mayor Eric Adams In Criminal Corruption Probe: Report

Crime

New York City

U.S.

<div>
After Turkish Islamist President Recep Erdogan threatened to invade Israel, the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, a staunch defender of the Jewish state and a hardline opponent of Islamism, blasted Erdogan, calling for Turkey to be kicked out of NATO.
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“Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them,&#8221; Erdogan <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogan-says-turkey-might-enter-israel-help-palestinians-2024-07-28/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> on Sunday. “There is no reason why we cannot do this.”
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“Islamofascist Erdogan threatens to invade Israel,” Wilders wrote on X. “This guy is totally nuts. Turkey should be kicked out of NATO.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Islamofascist Erdogan threatens to invade Israel.
This guy is totally nuts. 
Turkey should be kicked out of NATO. <a href="https://t.co/pYXHNi9XQ8">https://t.co/pYXHNi9XQ8</a>
&mdash; Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) <a href="https://twitter.com/geertwilderspvv/status/1817667592125141436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Wilders became the kingmaker in The Netherlands after his PVV party became the biggest Party in the Dutch parliament in the November 2023 national election. The resulting coalition found Wilders’ PVV joined with the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), and the New Social Contract (NSC). As far back as 2009, Wilders predicted the PVV would eventually <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/2009/03/wilders_i_want_to_be_prime_min/">become</a> the Netherlands&#8217; biggest party.
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In 2007, Wilder <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/geert-wilders-anti-islam-populist-once-banned-uk-extreme-views-105426384.html">stated</a>:
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<blockquote>Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe. If we do not stop Islamification now, Eurabia and Netherabia will just be a matter of time. One century ago, there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today, there are about 1 million Muslims in this country. Where will it end? We are heading for the end of European and Dutch civilization as we know it.</blockquote>
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He added of Erdogan, “As Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said the other day, and I quote, &#8216;There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.&#8217;”
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In 2010, he <a href="https://x.com/Efune/status/1727444499381518772">asserted</a>, “If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism. There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan.”
</div>

NETHERLANDS-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT

Netherlands’ Wilders Blasts Erdogan For Threat To Invade Israel: Kick Turkey Out Of NATO

Geert Wilders

Global Politics

Israel

NATO

The Netherlands

World

Turkish President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/recep-tayyip-erdogan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recep Tayyip Erdogan</a> said during a recent press conference that he would find it &#8220;upsetting&#8221; to refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Erdogan made the comments during a joint appearance alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who spoke first on the topic of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
&#8220;Athens&#8217; stance on the subject is clear: Israel has every right for self defense against a bloody, provocative occupation of its territory by terrorists,&#8221; Mitsotakis began. &#8220;An attack that innocents got killed, got kidnapped and tortured by a terrorist organization that doesn&#8217;t represent Palestinians.&#8221;
WATCH:
https://twitter.com/Admeliorax/status/1790074751009816922
Erdogan&#8217;s response was measured, but he made it clear that he did not agree with Mitsotakis&#8217; assessment of Hamas.
&#8220;It is not a terrorist organization, but if you state it is a terror group here, that would be upsetting,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I never see Hamas as a terror organization. And as of now, step by step, I am following Hamas, and in my country right now, more than 1,000 members of Hamas are in our hospitals.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Erdogan went on to claim that it was unfair to call Hamas a terror group, blaming &#8220;the entire west&#8221; for assisting Israel and lamenting the number of dead among the &#8220;members of Hamas.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Turkish President Erdogan says calling Hamas terrorists is “upsetting.”
 “I never see Hamas as a terror organization.”
Erdogan has also said Turkey is treating Hamas members in their hospitals. 
“In my country right now more than 1000 members of Hamas are in our hospitals.” <a href="https://t.co/NX6QbAwhXr">pic.twitter.com/NX6QbAwhXr</a>
&mdash; Oli London (@OliLondonTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1790153174663184683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Erdogan is not the only one reluctant to refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization even after the brutal attacks of October 7th. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has steadfastly refused to call Hamas &#8220;terrorists&#8221; – referring to them instead as a &#8220;Palestinian group&#8221; — earning them an earful from former British Prime Minister <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-britains-ex-pm-torches-the-bbc-for-failing-to-call-hamas-terrorists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Cameron</a>.
&#8220;When you see what Hamas are prepared to do, you just realize the terrible, dreadful, inhuman people, frankly, that we are dealing with,&#8221; Cameron began &#8220;And maybe it’s a moment, actually, for the BBC to ask itself again, should we describe these people as terrorists? They are terrorists.&#8221;
&#8220;If you kidnap grandmothers, you kidnap babies, you rape people, you shoot children in front of their parents. What more do they need to do for the BBC to say, look, these are terrorists? They really are.&#8221;

Erdoğan and Press Members

‘I Never See Hamas As A Terror Organization’: Turkey’s Erdogan Says It’s ‘Upsetting’ To Call Hamas ‘Terrorists’

'I Never See Hamas As A Terror Organization': Turkey's Erdogan Says It's 'Upsetting' To Call Hamas 'Terrorists'

Hamas

Terrorism

The results of new municipal elections in Turkey <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/chp-s-mansur-yavas-garners-60--of-votes-in-ankara--99-8--vot">may indicate</a> that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a harsh critic of Israel, may be in trouble in future presidential elections.
Two major parties exist in Turkey, the Justice and Development Party (AK), headed by Erdogan, and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). The election on Sunday in the two major cities of Istanbul and Ankara featured the mayors of the two cities, both of whom belong to the CHP, successfully defending their positions from candidates from the AK. Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas of the CHP won over 60% of the votes.
In addition, in 35 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, the CHP <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/chp-leads-in-35-turkish-cities--akp-only-24-with-99--votes-c">won</a> in the municipal elections; the AK won in only 25. That represented the first time in 20 years the CHP led AK in local elections.
“Voters have chosen to change the face of Turkey,” CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel stated. &#8220;They want to open the door to a new political climate in our country.&#8221;
“Unfortunately, we have not obtained the results that we wanted,” Erdogan acknowledged.
According to analysts quoted by <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/foreign-minister-katz-turkish-voters-punished-erdogan-for-attacking-israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times of Israel</a>, Turkish voters have become disenchanted with Erdogan because of roughly 70% inflation and an economic slowdown.
The significance of the two major cities voting for the CHP is that Ankara is the political capital of the nation and major financial centers reside in Istanbul.
In late December, Erdogan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, prompting Netanyahu and other leading Israeli officials to fire back.
<a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/erdogan-projects-his-own-genocidal-intent-onto-netanyahu/">Speaking</a> in Ankara, Erdogan once <a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/erdogan-projects-his-own-genocidal-intent-onto-netanyahu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “A Muslim could not commit genocide; he is not capable of it.” He also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-says-israeli-pm-netanyahu-no-different-hitler-2023-12-27/">declared</a>, “They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not.”
That catalyzed this <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1740039502423265747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">response</a> from Netanyahu: “Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us. The IDF, which is the most moral army in the world, is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world, Hamas-ISIS, which has committed crimes against humanity, and which Erdogan has praised and whose leaders he hosts.”
Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog <a href="https://twitter.com/Isaac_Herzog/status/1740050924037460046">added</a>, “I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis. The command ‘Never Again’ remains an imperative for the State of Israel — the nation state of the Jewish people — which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews, as well as Muslims, and those of other faiths and nationalities.”

TOPSHOT-TURKEY-POLITICS-MUNICIPAL-VOTE

Erdogan’s Party Loses Significant Elections In Turkey

After hard-line Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, Netanyahu joined other leading Israeli officials to fire back.
Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan, who once <a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/erdogan-projects-his-own-genocidal-intent-onto-netanyahu/">said</a>, “A Muslim could not commit genocide; he is not capable of it,” <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/27/turkeys-erdogan-says-netanyahu-no-different-than-hitler-as-gaza-is-bombed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a>, “They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not.”
That catalyzed this response from Netanyahu: “Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us. The IDF, which is the most moral army in the world, is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world, Hamas-ISIS, which has committed crimes against humanity, and which Erdogan has praised and whose leaders he hosts.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us.
The IDF, which is the most moral army in the world, is fighting to eliminate the most…
&mdash; Benjamin Netanyahu &#8211; בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1740039502423265747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog added, “I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis. The command ‘Never Again’ remains an imperative for the State of Israel — the nation state of the Jewish people — which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews, as well as Muslims, and those of other faiths and nationalities.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan.
In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished…
&mdash; יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) <a href="https://twitter.com/Isaac_Herzog/status/1740050924037460046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon also had a few words:
<blockquote>
It would be prudent that a leader of a country that committed a heinous genocide against the Armenian people refrain from preaching morality to others. Erdogan has made himself the representative of the Hamas terror organization in Turkey and his statements are entirely disconnected from reality. I would suggest that he stop spouting his hollow slogans and instead show the world how much he actually cares by announcing a concrete number of Gazan families that he is willing to assist by accepting them into his country.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It would be prudent that a leader of a country that committed a heinous genocide against the Armenian people refrain from preaching morality to others. Erdogan has made himself the representative of the Hamas terror organization in Turkey and his statements are entirely… <a href="https://t.co/Cmz8H1d0rL">pic.twitter.com/Cmz8H1d0rL</a>
&mdash; Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) <a href="https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1740020535654801640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Comparing Israel’s surgical actions in Gaza to the mass genocide perpetrated by Hitler is ludicrous; Hitler led a movement to exterminate all of the Jews in Europe, eventually killing six million of them, including one million children. The Nazis went so far as to claim anyone with any trace of Jewish blood be exterminated, a sentiment regarding killing all Jews that has been <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/11/21/hamas-threats-to-cut-off-heads-slit-throats-and-slaughter-every-jew-on-the-planet-were-ignored-in-2019/">echoed</a> by the terrorist group Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israel has lost <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-27/ty-article/idf-officer-two-soldiers-killed-in-gaza-fighting/0000018c-a9d9-dbb4-af9f-edf9d3d90000">498 soldiers</a> since the October 7 massacre, a figure roughly equivalent to the United States losing 17,000 soldiers. The Israelis, rather than truly committing genocide by decimating Gaza from the air, have sent their soldiers at the risk of their lives into Gaza to reduce the loss of civilian life.

Bibi

Erdogan Compares Netanyahu To Hitler. Bibi, Other Israeli Officials Strike Back.

Benjamin Netanyahu

After Turkish leadership warned that they would crack down on online “disinformation,” several Turkish YouTubers were arrested for interviewing their fellow citizens about the nation’s currency crisis.
Since this time last year, the Turkish lira has lost 50% of its value against the dollar amid policymakers’ unorthodox monetary policies — meaning that citizens are dealing with diminishing purchasing power and widespread price uncertainty.
<a href="https://www.insider.com/turkey-arrests-youtubers-who-ask-the-public-about-finances-2021-12">Business Insider</a> reported:
<blockquote>YouTuber Hasan Köksoy, who runs the YouTube channel Kendine Muhabir (which translates to Self Correspondent), said in a tweet translated to English that he was taken out of his bed &#8220;like a terrorist&#8221; and arrested &#8220;for handing a microphone to the public.&#8221;
Arif Kocabıyık and Turan Kural were also arrested, according to the local news outlet Turkey Purge, which monitors human rights abuses in the country. On their respective YouTube channels, the men have been interviewing people about the nation&#8217;s economy and its impact on their finances. A fourth YouTuber, Mehmet Koyuncu, tweeted that he was not arrested but that police contacted him. 
Turkey Purge reported the YouTubers were accused of &#8220;denigrating the state and government.&#8221;</blockquote>
The arrests follow Turkish leaders’ warnings about crackdowns on social media usage. Business Insider added:
<blockquote>In a recent speech, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called social media one of the &#8220;main sources of threats to today&#8217;s democracy&#8221; and said he would be cracking down on internet media to &#8220;fight disinformation and propaganda,&#8221; with sentences of up to five years in prison, Al Jazeera reported.
Critics say this could tighten restrictions on free speech. Human rights organization Freedom House&#8217;s 2021 Freedom on the Net report, which analyzes internet freedom worldwide, labeled Turkey as &#8220;not free,&#8221; noting widespread filtering or removal of online content that was critical of the government. 
According to the Stockholm Center for Press Freedom, 72 journalists are currently in prison in Turkey and 89 are awaiting trial.</blockquote>
Erdogan’s crackdown on “disinformation” mirrors the policy of other repressive regimes across the world.
After widespread anti-government protests in Cuba, the island’s communist government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cuba-passes-misinformation-law-calling-online-criticism-of-the-government-cyberterrorism">passed</a> legislation treating “misinformation” as “cyberterrorism.” Citizens had been uploading photos and videos of the protests to social media, drawing international attention to the government’s repressive policies. 
Last year, the Chinese Communist Party <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/citing-ccp-influence-biden-warns-americans-about-doing-business-in-hong-kong">enacted</a> the “Hong Kong National Security Law” — which, according to the Biden administration, tightened penalties for “secession” and “subversion.” Despite widespread protests that garnered international attention, the law gutted individual rights for citizens of Hong Kong — and led the Biden administration to warn about the “growing risks” of conducting business in the city.
The Biden administration itself, however, is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alarmed-and-suspicious-senators-tell-biden-to-explain-crackdown-on-misinformation">engaging</a> in censorship. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this year that users “shouldn’t be banned from one platform and not others” if they post “misinformation online.” She also revealed that the Biden administration is “flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
President Biden also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-says-these-12-people-are-responsible-for-most-covid-misinformation-never-says-who-they-are">alleged</a> that Facebook is “killing people” by allowing a particular group of users to spread their views about COVID-19.
“These twelve people are out there giving misinformation. Anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it. It’s killing people. It’s bad information,” Biden said. “My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally, that somehow I’m saying Facebook is killing people, that they would do something about the misinformation, the outrageous misinformation about the vaccine.”

Erdogan in Russia

Turkish YouTubers Arrested For Speaking About Rampant Inflation As Nation Cracks Down On ‘Disinformation’

In a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday, President Joe Biden told the Turkish leader that he plans to recognize the mass killing and displacement of more than 1.5 million Armenians that occurred over a hundred years ago as genocide, according to a report from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">Bloomberg</a>.
The White House did not discuss the topic of Biden’s potential declaration in a statement regarding Biden’s first call of his term with Erdoğan. The White House <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">said</a> that Biden told the Turkish president that he is interested in a “constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements.”
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/world/europe/armenia-genocide-turkey-biden.html">The New York Times</a> reported that Biden is set to make the official declaration on Saturday, likely upsetting Turkish leaders like Erdoğan who have pushed back on using the term “genocide” to describe what happened to the Armenians. On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-poised-to-recognize-armenian-massacres-as-genocide-officials-say-11619048891">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that officials said Biden is expected to describe the deportation, starvation, and massacres of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks beginning in 1915 as genocide.
In early 2019, Erdoğan <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">reportedly</a> said in a Twitter post that “the relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period.”
Erdoğan said in a statement Thursday that Turkey &#8220;will continue to defend truths against the so-called Armenian genocide lie and those who support this slander with political motivations,&#8221; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/23/989915018/what-it-means-for-the-u-s-to-call-the-atrocities-against-armenians-genocide">NPR</a> reported.
<a href="https://cqrcengage.com/aaainc/genocide">The Armenian Assembly of America</a> states that April 24th is the day that the Armenian Genocide is commemorated around the globe. The group includes the importance of acknowledging the massacre as genocide on their website, writing, “Unequivocally affirming the Armenian Genocide would honor the more than 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred. It would also serve to remember this proud chapter in America&#8217;s history of helping to save the survivors. We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again.”
According to the online <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Armenian-Genocide">Encyclopedia Brittanica</a>, the Armenian Genocide refers to the efforts to deport and kill massive numbers of Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turk government during World War I (between 1914 and 1918). Armenians claim that the campaign was a deliberate venture to destroy the Armenian people and, therefore, was an act of genocide. However, the Turkish government has pushed back on calls to recognize the events in those terms. It has conceded that atrocities occurred, but there was no official extermination policy that was carried out against the Armenians as a unit.
President Reagan was the only president to speak of the devastating events as genocide in a declaration remembering the horrors of the Holocaust. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamations-april-22-1981">stated</a>, “Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it — and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples — the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” Many of Reagan’s successors have made claims that they would recognize the Armenian genocide when they are elected, but none have officially done so. On April 24, presidents have released statements commemorating the day of remembrance, but none since have referred to it as “genocide.”
As reported by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-poised-to-recognize-armenian-massacres-as-genocide-officials-say-11619048891">The Wall Street Journal</a>, at the end of his presidential campaign, Biden’s campaign said that he would “recognize the Armenian genocide and make universal human rights a top priority for his administration so that such a tragedy can never again occur.”
On Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day last year, Biden put out a <a href="https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-by-vice-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-genocide-remembrance-day-78500cb4dd1c">statement</a> regarding the commemoration of the tragedy.
Biden <a href="https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-by-vice-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-genocide-remembrance-day-78500cb4dd1c">stated</a>, “Today we remember the atrocities faced by the Armenian people in the Metz Yeghern — the Armenian Genocide…We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination. And we will forever respect the perseverance of the Armenian people in the wake of such tragedy.”
His statement continued, “It is particularly important to speak these words and commemorate this history at a moment when we are reminded daily of the power of truth, and of our shared responsibility to stand against hate — because silence is complicity. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words ‘never again’ lose their meaning. The facts must be as clear and as powerful for future generations as for those whose memories are seared by tragedy. Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities.”

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Report: Biden Tells Turkish President Erdogan He Will Recognize Armenian Genocide

Armenians

Biden Administration

Joe Biden

On September 27, a century-old conflict reignited when Armenia’s Muslim-majority neighbor, Azerbaijan, launched an unprovoked military incursion into the ethnic, indigenous-Armenian populated enclave of Artsakh — better known by its Russian-Persian name of Nagorno-Karabakh. The coordinated attack, involving artillery and aerial strikes, targeted civilian settlements, placing the region’s capital Stepanakert in its crosshairs.
According to the <a href="https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1031655.html">latest report</a> from the Defense Ministry of Artsakh, Armenia’s death toll continues to climb, exceeding 604 people. Azerbaijan has not reported on its casualties.
Shortly after the attack began, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announced his full support of Azerbaijan and their campaign to conquer ethnic Armenian territory, calling for Armenia to withdraw from the disputed region.
Erdogan’s support for Azerbaijan’s attack goes beyond vocal enthusiasm. Since the fighting began, Turkey has armed and deployed <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/29/Turkey-sent-700-to-1-000-Syrian-mercenaries-to-Azerbaijan-Reports">Syrian mercenaries</a> — including Islamic <a href="https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1031734/">terrorists,</a> actions which were <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/syrias-assad-says-turkeys-erdogan-main-instigator-in-nagorno-karabakh-644704">confirmed</a> by Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad. The Turkish state has denied such involvement, despite further photographic <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36955/satellite-images-confirm-turkish-f-16-fighters-secretly-deployed-to-azerbaijan">evidence</a> of Turkey supplying Azerbaijan’s air force with F-16 Viper fighter jets.
In an <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-turkey-drones">interview</a> with one Turkish news channel, Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev praised Turkish drone technology, stating, “Thanks to advanced Turkish drones owned by the Azerbaijan military, our casualties on the front shrunk… these drones show Turkey’s strength. It also empowers us.”
In order to better understand this eruption of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and why it may present an existential threat for Armenia itself, it is important to understand the wider history of this conflict.
The origins of the Armenia-Azerbaijani conflict over Artsakh are rooted in Soviet history, tracing back to the dissolution of the Russian Monarchy in 1917. Shortly after the Bolshevik uprising that ousted the Tsar, Armenia and its neighbors in the Caucasus region – all of whom were previously part of the vast Russian Empire – attained collective independence as a single South Caucus state known as the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR). Due to inevitable internal conflicts, however, such independence was short-lived; the TDFR soon divided into the Democratic Republic of Georgia, the Democratic Republic of Armenia, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Between 1918 and 1920, three historically Armenian regions in this area (which had also become home to large Turk populations following nomadic Turkic conquests of the Armenian homeland) — Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Nakhichevan, and Zangezur — became battlegrounds in Armenia’s attempt to regain parts of its ancestral homeland from Azerbaijan’s expansionist grip.
In 1920, the Soviet Union shuffled the regional map yet again. Zangezur remained within Soviet Armenia, while Nakhichevan and Nagorno-Karabakh were placed under Soviet Azerbaijan as “autonomous oblasts.” Some say that this was part of Joseph Stalin’s divide and conquer strategy. However, other scholars claim that the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Soviet Azerbaijan recognized the political realities of the day. Turkey had committed the Armenian Genocide and were determined to further weaken what was left of Armenia, and were lobbying the Soviets for generosity in favor of a nation which shared with Turkey a common ethnicity and language, Azerbaijan. Then again, others say that the Soviets favored Azerbaijan’s oil reserves over Armenians’ ancient presence and rich history in the South Caucasus.
Over the next few decades, skirmishes between the Soviet states of Armenia and Azerbaijan stalled, shuddering to a standstill under Soviet rule. However, as the Iron Curtain began to decay in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, the once frozen dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh began to thaw.
Fearing the fate of Nakhichevan’s Armenian residents — who, under aggressive Azeri rule, had been ethnically cleansed from their indigenous Christian-Armenian homeland — Nagorno-Karabakh pursued confederacy with Soviet Armenia in 1988. However, under Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s rigid policies, the region descended into chaos as war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
When the Soviet Union collapsed just three years later, Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged as newly independent states, with tensions rapidly escalating. Armenia-backed Nagorno-Karabakh (which the native Armenian inhabitants call Artsakh) faced an Azerbaijan aided by mercenaries and volunteers from its Muslim-majority compatriots, Afghanistan and Chechnya, and heavily supported by Turkey, which some believe had a plan of attacking Armenia in 1993.
After the death of tens of thousands of people, and the displacement of many more, Russia successfully mediated a cease-fire in May of 1994. Armenians miraculously won the war, with Artsakh becoming a de-facto republic while also gaining a large “buffer zone” territory which was not part of its Soviet boundaries.
A victim of its geography, Armenia remains nestled between, at best, apathetic neighbors to the North and South: Georgia, who even today refuse to support Armenia against the onslaught of Azeri aggression out of fear for its own sovereignty; and Iran: the Shia-Muslim theocracy which would be hard-pressed to rally behind a Christian nation against another Shia-Muslim state. To its East and West, Armenia lies sandwiched between enemies: Turkey — the nation directly responsible for carrying out a genocide against the Armenian people in 1915 — and Azerbaijan — a nation of indigenous Turks with the same genocidal ambitions.
Except for an unsuccessful attempt by Azerbaijan to enter the region in 2016, a nominal truce between Armenia and the Azeris had remained stable for decades — until now.
Despite fervent pleas from world powers in support of de-escalation or a cease-fire, Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s support and ardor, has been relentlessly pursuing their military campaign against Artsakh, and by extension, Armenia.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are waging their campaign against Artsakh and Armenia on two fronts. On one front, they attack Armenia militarily, seeking to destroy its people and raze its cities. On the second front, they seek to undermine and delegitimize the plight of the Armenian people through the dissemination of propaganda. While <a href="https://surfshark.com/blog/azerbaijan-starts-blocking-media">censoring social media</a> within their own borders, Azerbaijan blurs reality, attempting to paint itself as a feeble victim against some supposed Armenian aggression. Funneling money and influence into the Western world, Azerbaijan and Turkey have succeeded in silencing celebrities such as Sir Elton John and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-10-07/cardi-b-armenia-fundraiser-twitter-apology">Cardi B</a>, both of whom had initially voiced their support for the Armenian people on social media, but later succumbed to surmounting pressure from Azerbaijan and withdrew their statements.
While reams of Turkish propaganda flood social media with misinformation, certain truths cannot be refuted. The indigenously Armenian enclave of Artsakh, with a population of just 150,000 and the Christian, democratic state of Armenia, with a population dwarfed by its diaspora, is outmanned and outgunned by the oil-rich and militarily advanced forces of Turkey and Azerbaijan, with a net population of over 100 million. It is an existential crisis for Armenia: one people descended from the survivors and victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide is facing annihilation at the hands of a people descended from the very perpetrators of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
Delivering a speech on the eve of the Second World War and the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler ruminated on the forgotten genocide of the Armenian people, invoking their neglected ruin under the fog of war before embarking on his own campaign of mass-slaughter. It is precisely because history callously forgot the Armenians that today, as the prospect of yet another genocide threatens Armenia, Turkey and their Azerbaijani proxy similarly ponder, “Who, after all, today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
Harry Khachatrian is a Canadian computer engineer and a contributor at The Daily Wire. Find him on <a href="https://twitter.com/Harry1T6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/Harry1T6&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1513617344022000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHh2pXFSex2266c4GY1YE3A-Q6Ykw">Twitter</a>.

TURKEY-ARZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA-PROTEST

Violent Conflict Explodes Between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Here’s What You Need To Know.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan converted another historic Christian church into a mosque on Friday, continuing his trend of reverting secularized museums into Muslim houses of worship as they existed under Ottoman rule.
Istanbul&#8217;s Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, which has been a museum since 1945, was first built in the 4th century as a monastery outside the walls of then-Constantinople, the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. Throughout the centuries, the building was expanded and rebuilt, and most of the present structure dates to the 11th century, according to the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/after-hagia-sophia-turkeys-historic-chora-church-also-switched-to-mosque-639465" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jerusalem Post</a>.
The former church was turned into a mosque when the Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453 and plastered over its 14th-century Byzantine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chora_Church#/media/File:Chora_Christ_south_coupole.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mosaics</a> and frescoes, which depict Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other biblical characters. They were uncovered again when the mosque became a museum.
As the Jerusalem Post reported, Erdogan&#8217;s edict &#8220;did not say when the first Muslim prayers would be held at Chora, or what arrangements would be made for the Christian artworks there&#8221; but noted that the Turkish president&#8217;s recent reopening of the historic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-80-years-as-a-museum-turkey-orders-the-hagia-sophia-become-a-mosque" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hagia Sophia</a> for Muslim prayers involved concealing Christian images in what was once the largest church in Christendom.
Orthodox Archbishop Makarios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia, released a <a href="https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/08/22/a-message-from-his-eminence-archbishop-makarios-chora-monastery-conversion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> condemning Erdogan&#8217;s action, saying in part:
<blockquote>I was deeply saddened to learn of the decision of the Turkish authorities to convert the historic Chora Monastery in Constantinople into an Islamic mosque. It is a decision that intensifies our frustration and concern, given the recent desecration of the Church of Hagia Sophia, which is the universal symbol of Orthodoxy and Christianity.
Unfortunately, the Turkish political leadership insists on following a path of disrespect for religious monuments of the Orthodox Church but also displays contempt for monuments that constitute a part of the world’s cultural heritage. There are currently more than 3500 mosques in Constantinople. There is no need for another one to be added to the list as most of them are empty.</blockquote>
Makarios went on to describe Erdogan&#8217;s actions as an insult not just to the Orthodox, but to all Christians around the world.
Erdogan has shown intolerance toward religious minorities in Turkey, especially Christians. In 2016, he plunged his country into a diplomatic spat with the U.S. when he imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson for two years on trumped-up charges of undermining the government. When Brunson&#8217;s case drew the attention of President Donald Trump, the response from the U.S. shook world markets.
During an interview with the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/i-think-were-very-close-freed-pastor-andrew-brunson-urges-young-american-christians-to-prepare-for-persecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Washington Examiner</a> upon the release of his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Hostage-Persecution-Imprisonment-Perseverance/dp/0801094879" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">memoir</a> last year, Brunson warned that he sees persecution gathering on the horizon for American Christians:
<blockquote>Andrew Brunson elsewhere <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pastor-andrew-brunson-astounded-at-the-speed-with-which-the-us-is-imploding-and-predicts-persecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pastor-andrew-brunson-astounded-at-the-speed-with-which-the-us-is-imploding-and-predicts-persecution&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1570992287169000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDSX2HRxztd3m7cqjPb4OBBwVp6Q">said</a> he has been &#8220;astounded at the speed with which the U.S. is imploding&#8221; and how anti-Christian sentiment has surged during just the few years he was isolated. &#8220;The whole Trump election and everything that happened afterward, I knew very little about it. So when I came back to the states and just started reading and following news, it was just such a contrast to the environment that we had been in even four to six years ago.&#8221;
&#8220;It seems that the culture has become more overtly hostile,&#8221; he said, pinpointing how large corporations are now joining the media and political classes to push positions that often oppose biblical teaching. A segment of elite society has long regarded Christians sneeringly, he said, but opposition is now bubbling up everywhere and &#8220;is now spread to where it&#8217;s more of a grassroots thing that is growing.&#8221;
“There is a turning in our culture that used to have more respect for Christianity, and that is now becoming unpopular,” Andrew Brunson observed, explaining how young people are increasingly rejecting God and religion entirely. &#8220;And Christians are portrayed as being bigots, racist, and basically evil. And so, for someone to stand publicly as a Christian — especially a young person — they&#8217;re going to get a lot of pushback from their peers.&#8221; [&#8230;]
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to stand for Jesus publicly, to stand unapologetically for him, to stand for the things that the Bible teaches is true,” Andrew Brunson said. Much of the battle rages over how truth and morality are defined, and he foresees the clashing worldviews leading to a point where Christians in the West might be called to suffer for their faith as he has.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/grace-church-cannot-thumb-its-nose-l-a-county-seeks-tens-of-thousands-in-fines-for-pastor-john-macarthur" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Grace Church Cannot Thumb Its Nose’: L.A. County Seeks Tens Of Thousands In Fines For Pastor John MacArthur</a>

Erdogan Hagia Sophia

Turkish President Erdogan Converts Another Historic Christian Church Into Mosque

Christianity

Islam

Religion

Once the spearhead of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has again risen to prominence — but for all the wrong reasons. Turkey has prevailed as NATO’s worst ally, disrespecting its core tenets as well as its members’ security interests. It has championed terrorism and has ethnically cleansed the Kurds, forcefully <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/16/kurdish-commander-mazloum-abdi-trump-prevent-ethnic-cleansing-kurds-turkey/">displacing</a> 300,000 in northern Syria and purging <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">24</a> Kurdish mayors from office in Turkey. Turkey’s utter disregard for NATO’s <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">purposes</a> — including collective defense and, arguably, promotion of regional stability — and its terrorism warrant a “cold Turkey” expulsion from NATO.
While the North Atlantic Treaty does not stipulate whether expulsion is an available remedy, it is <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">likely</a> so. This is because Article 60(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — which governs the interpretation of international treaties — <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">notes</a> that material breaches of a treaty, which can justify grounds for a member’s expulsion, include “the violation of a provision essential to the accomplishment of the object or purpose of the treaty.” According to Just Security, violating NATO’s underlying principles, but more so its “object and purpose,” can amount to a material breach that can <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/66574/can-turkey-be-expelled-from-nato/">legitimate</a> Turkey’s expulsion.
Turkey deserves expulsion for challenging NATO’s principles, but also for its failures as a purported geopolitical “ally.” In <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/turkey-and-nato-troubled-relationship/599890/">1974</a>, Turkey violated arguably NATO’s foremost object and tenet — <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm">Article V</a>, a collective defense provision maintaining that an <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">attack</a> on any NATO member is an attack on all — by attacking Greece, then a NATO member, over control for Cyprus. Turkey still occupies Cyprus’s north and is the only country to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/northern-cyprus-travel/index.html">recognize</a> “the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as legitimate.” This invasion alone, which displaced <a href="https://www.thenationalherald.com/210640/cyprus-turkish-invasion-anniversary-brings-calls-to-resume-unity-talks/">200,000</a> Cypriot-Greeks, can be invoked to initiate Turkey’s expulsion. Turkey has also defied NATO’s founding purposes, to counter de facto Russian <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato">aggression</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact">expansion</a>, by recently procuring a Russian air defense system. Thus, Turkey has demonstrated a dual allegiance to NATO’s historic competitor. Turkey has also undermined <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.htm">regional stability</a>, <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deploying</a> ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al Sham to fight in Libya, and has refused to aid NATO allies in times of need, denying the U.S. use of the Incirlik Airbase during the Iraq War. A failed NATO ally, Turkey has initiated internal war, has sided with NATO’s historic adversary, and has slighted its allies during key operations.
Turkey’s sponsorship of terror is also overwhelming. In part, this is because Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has long championed jihadists and fundamentalists like <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Galbuddin Hekmatyar</a>. An “Afghani jihad leader,” “Specifically Designated Global Terrorist,” and “Al Qaeda ally,” <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Hekmatyar</a> offered bin Laden shelter in Afghanistan, and “pledged allegiance to the spiritual leader of the Taliban” to attack American troops. Yet, a young <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">Erdogan</a> can be <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/memri-archives-turkish-president-erdo%C4%9Fans-past-close-relations-afghan-warlord-gulbuddin">found</a> sitting beside Hekmatyar’s feet. Erdogan was also a “<a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">pupil</a>” of Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of Turkish Islamism and Turkey’s former prime minister. <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/necmettin-erbakan">Erbakan</a> founded Turkish affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as the Welfare Party, and has praised Hamas.
Not surprisingly, Erdogan has advanced his masters’ fundamentalism — harboring, exporting, and financing terror. Turkish <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">authorities</a> allow <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hamas">Hamas</a> to coordinate attacks from Istanbul, while also <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/17/hamas-plots-attacks-israel-turkey-erdogan-turns-blind-eye/">allowing</a> Hamas officials to “freely” enter “without fear of arrest.” Shortly after hosting Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s leader, Erdogan <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/barkat-asks-us-to-sanction-turkey-after-report-of-hamas-assassination-plot/">saluted</a> Hamas: “We will keep on supporting our brothers in Palestine.” In fact, ties between Hamas and Erdogan’s Turkey are so <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/17/hamas-plots-attacks-israel-turkey-erdogan-turns-blind-eye/">strong</a> that “Turkish intelligence agents also maintain close contact with [Hamas] operatives.”
Erdogan has also <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">provided</a> safe haven and funding to members of the <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/muslim-brotherhood">Muslim Brotherhood</a>, from which <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/hamas">Hamas</a> emerged. Under Erdogan and his AKP, a Brotherhood-linked political party, <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">Turkey</a> has become the “biggest Muslim Brotherhood backer in the world,” even outpacing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cope-academia-and-think-tanks-must-boycott-qatar">Qatar</a>, and has “been handed … a leading position in the [Brotherhood] movement, due to [its]success.” Having provided a safe haven for dozens of Brotherhood figures, Erdogan has <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/muslim-brotherhood/turkey-becomes-biggest-muslim-brotherhood-backer-world">sheltered</a> “some the movement’s most powerful and influential figures.”
Turkey also <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">safeguards</a> and <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deploys</a> ISIS fighters. According to the head of Iraqi military intelligence, Lt.-Gen. Saad al-Allaq, Turkey currently <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">harbors</a> “nine [of ISIS’s] alleged terror leaders” and “top financiers.” It has become home to ISIS recruitment <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">cells</a>, and is a refuge to which many ISIS members fled after losing territory. In Turkey, ISIS has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">planned</a> prison breaks and attacks. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">ISIS</a> procurement agents and ISIS-affiliated companies also operate from Turkey, and Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was found just miles from its eastern border — suggesting that Turkish intelligence likely condoned nearby ISIS activity.
Most shocking, however, has been Turkey’s direct <a href="http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/regional/45793-libyan-army-spokesman-turkey-transports-a-number-of-daesh-and-jabhat-al-nusra-terrorists-from-syria-to-libya">deployment</a> of <a href="https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-is-smuggling-daesh-terrorists-to-libya-lna/">troops</a> from ISIS and <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/transnational-threats-project/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-hts">Hayat Tahrir Al Sham</a>, a Salafi-jihadist group whose predecessor was <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/transnational-threats-project/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-hts">Jabhat Al Nusra</a> (an Al Qaeda affiliate), in the Libyan Civil War. Reinforcing Libya&#8217;s Government of National Accord, which <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/15/qatar-state-sponsor-terrorism/">Qatar</a> — one of the world’s largest sponsors of terror — also backs, Turkey’s military has also accepted a military <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/New-sanctions-show-Turkeys-double-standards-on-terror-608376">escort</a> from Hayat Tahrir al Sham in Syria. Hence, Turkey not only embraces terrorism, but exports it as well.
Turkey’s ties to terror also involve financing, including  “<a href="http://trumanproject.org/home/doctrine-blog/the-gray-list-turkeys-financing-of-terrorism/">indiscriminate funding</a>” to “al-Q[ae]da based groups in the region, specifically those in the Syrian Civil War.” Turkey remains the only NATO country to be <a href="http://trumanproject.org/home/doctrine-blog/the-gray-list-turkeys-financing-of-terrorism/">gray-listed</a> by the Financial Action Task Force (<a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/about/">FATF</a>), an intergovernmental body committed to “combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.” Funding, exporting, and harboring terror amongst many groups, Turkey champions terror and warrants long-overdue sanctions.
Through violating its duties as a NATO member, and through its strong affiliations to terrorist groups — Hamas, ISIS, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, and arguably, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a> — Turkey emerges as candidate for the worst NATO ally in the history of the alliance. Having legal grounds to expel Turkey expulsion, NATO must now do so — and it must do so swiftly in order to protect its integrity.
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Jordan Cope is currently a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed his undergraduate degree. Having graduated with a B.A. in international relations, Jordan also minored in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic and Hebrew. He has also published research on the security implications of Palestinian foreign aid. He can be followed <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanCope12">@JordanCope12</a>.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London

COPE: Expel Erdogan, His Terror, And His Ethnic Cleansing From NATO

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week was contentious, as a heated debate raged over whether President Donald Trump should meet with the Islamist dictator. Critics questioned the timing of the White House meeting, coming as the Turkish military prosecutes attacks against Syrian Kurdish forces, and remains notorious as the world’s largest jailer of professional journalists.
But one element which was largely ignored in the discussion — and yet might impact Trump’s view of his Turkish counterpart the most — is the outsized role played by Erdogan’s government in meddling in U.S. domestic relations, particularly in his backing of American Muslim groups.
These organizations are among those most vociferously opposed to the president and nearly all his policies — from immigration and border security to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. These groups also routinely slander the president as a white supremacist.
Working jointly under the banner of the U.S. Council of Muslims Organizations (USCMO), American Muslims groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and other domestic Muslim groups “collaborate and coordinate” with the Turkish government, according to researcher Ahmet S. Yahyla in a special report for The Investigative Journal. What is most notable about these organizations is a shared heritage in the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement which Erdogan publicly supports.
In the last several years, the link between Turkey’s government and U.S. Brotherhood-linked groups has grown deeper. Both CAIR and MAS have increasingly featured Turkish leaders and topics at their conferences and events. A November 2nd CAIR-Los Angeles event in Anaheim sponsored by Turkish Airlines faced dozens of Kurdish-American protestors angry over the group’s continued support for Turkish persecution of Kurdish minorities. Researchers have pointed out anti-Armenian propaganda being distributed by Turkish-sponsored booths at MAS events.
This collaboration between Turkey and American Muslim Brotherhood was most public in the December 2017 protest against the president’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The USCMO joined the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) — led by Erdogan’s cousin, Halil Mutlu — in denouncing the decision outside the White House.
During the rally, Mutlu declared that Erdogan was, “my president, your president, president of the ummah (the worldwide community of Muslim believers),” as the crowd applauded. According to hacked emails published by Wikileaks and noted in Yahyla’s report, in 2016 TASC was part of a network of Turkish organizations facing investigation by the FBI over questions of foreign influence.
Mutlu came under media scrutiny in October after the Daily Caller publicized that he had made a $1500 donation to the campaign war-chest of Rep. Ihlan Omar (D-MN). Omar, a leading member of the “Squad” of freshman Democrats with whom President Trump has repeatedly tangled on a wide variety of political issues, is a frequent keynote speaker for CAIR and MAS events.
In 2019, Omar, together with fellow “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), attended a CAIR-organized event at the Turkish government-affiliated Diyanet Center of America, a massive mosque complex located in Maryland.
Omar has been repeatedly criticized for casting votes favorable to the Turkish government, including as one of only 11 votes against a House resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, and in vocally opposing sanctions on the Turkish military over allegations of war crimes against the Kurds in Northern Syria.
Omar has also been noted for her frequent denunciations of Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood’s shared enemies, most notably in her vocal stance against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates&#8217; joint campaign in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.  The Intercept recently reported on a meeting held in Turkey between Iranian al-Quds force officers and high-level Muslim Brotherhood leaders wherein the two groups discussed cooperation in Yemen.
Omar’s ties to Erdogan predate her time in Congress. That includes a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-ilhan-omar-met-2017-infamous-islamist-josh-hammer">2017 meeting</a> with the Turkish president in New York during a U.N. conference, while Omar was still a Minnesota assemblywoman.
There is much about Turkey’s recent behavior with which foreign policy, national security, and human rights experts might take umbrage. But these complaints have fallen upon deaf ears, thanks in part to the American public’s fatigue with the Middle East more generally.
But Turkey’s efforts to bankroll American Islamist efforts, including seeking political influence and meddling in the larger domestic agenda of the president, could help spur a broader American rejection of Turkish bad behavior.
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Kyle Shideler is the Director of the Counter-Islamist Grid (CIG), and writes at CounterIslamist.org

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SHIDELER: Authoritarian Turkey Utilizes American Islamist Groups For Domestic Political Meddling

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