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ISTANBUL Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in Monday under a new governing system that grants him sweeping executive powers, which critics say give him far too much control.

A former Istanbul mayor, Erdogan has been at the helm of Turkey since 2003 as prime minister and then the first directly elected president since 2014.

Speaking at his sprawling presidential compound in Ankara, Erdogan unveiled the rebranded presidency "on this most important day of our country."

He won last month's election with 52.9 percent of the vote, ushered in the executive presidency that ends parliamentary governance and boosts the powers of the formerly ceremonial presidency.

Erdogan said the executive presidency would put behind a "system that heavily cost our country through political, social and economic chaos."

He argued that the new structure would bring stability and efficiency and said, "is not forced but rather a sagacious choice that history has led us to." Turkey narrowly approved the executive presidency in a contentious referendum last year.

Abolishing the post of prime minister, the president will now form the government, appoint ministers, vice presidents and high-level bureaucrats, issue decrees, prepare the budget and has the power to impose a state of emergency. Parliament can ratify or reject his budget and the president needs parliamentary approval for emergency rule and decrees passed during that time.

Under the new system, Erdogan will not only run the executive branch but also lead his Justice and Development Party in parliament where he is six short of a majority and therefore allied with a nationalist party. Critics say the new system undermines impartiality and could lead to one-man rule with limited checks and balances.

Crowds cheered Erdogan along his convoy's route as he made his way to the inauguration ceremony. The presidency tweeted with the hashtag #NewEraWithErdogan. A special one lira coin (less than 25 U.S. cents) was minted for guests with the image of the presidential palace, dated July 9, 2018.

The now defunct government of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim issued a last-minute decree revamping ministries to conform to the new executive presidency structure. Erdogan is expected to announce his Cabinet on Monday evening.

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Erdogan inaugurates Turkey's powerful executive presidency ...

Turkey on Wednesday issued a decree that transfers some powers to the president, as the country moves to an executive presidential system following President Tayyip Erdogan's win in last month's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The decree, issued in the government's official gazette, makes changes to laws dating from 1924 to 2017, removes references to the prime minister whose office has been abolished and replaces them with "president."

Read more:The impact of Turkey's election: Erdogan's sweeping new powers

The changes mean the president can

Read more:Could Turkey's opposition reset ties with the EU?

When the changes will come into effect: The changes in the latest decree will take effect when Erdogan takes the oath of office, which is expected to happen in parliament on July 8 or 9.

The new presidential system: In a constitutional referendum in April 2017, a slim majority of Turkish voters approved the presidential system. The constitutional change allowed the winner of the 2018presidential election to assume full control of the government.

Read more:Opinion: Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins, democracy loses

Term limits: The president is limited to two five-year presidential terms, but if the parliament calls early elections during the second term the president may run for a third term.

Erdogan's rise to power: Erdogan served as prime minister of Turkey, formerly the country's most powerful post,from 2003 until 2014. Plans to alter the system to place Turkey's meaningful political power in his new rolewere already in motion before his job swap in 2014; before the April 2017 referendum, the presidential role was largely ceremonial. Erdoganwas reelected president in snap presidential elections in June 2018, having called them more than a year ahead of schedule. That was the final hurdle to implementing his desired reforms, opposition candidates had pledged to repeal some or all of them if they had won.

On Wednesday, Turkey's state election commission announced its finalvote tally, in which President Erdogan won 52.59 percent of the vote, followed by opposition candidate Muharrem Ince of the CHP party with 30.64 percent and jailed pro-Kurdish candidate Selahattin Demirtas with 8.4 percent.

In Turkey and abroad, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a polarizing effect. He has been described as a neo-Ottoman "sultan" as well as an authoritarian leader. From his early beginnings campaigning for Islamist causes to leading NATO's second largest military as the president of Turkey, DW explores the rise of the Turkish leader.

After years of moving up the ranks of the Islamist-rooted Welfare Party, Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994. But four years later, the party was ruled unconstitutional on the grounds it threatened Turkey's secularist nature, and was disbanded. He was later jailed for four months for a controversial public reading of a poem, and consequently lost his mayorship over the conviction.

Erdogan co-founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won a majority of seats in 2002. He was made prime minister in 2003. During his first years in office, Erdogan worked on providing social services, improving the economy and implementing democratic reforms. But some have argued that his premiership was also marked by a religious shift in the political sphere.

While Turkey's constitution guarantees the country's secular nature, observers believe Erdogan has managed to purge the "old secularist guard." The Turkish leader has said that one of his goals is to raise a "pious generation." Erdogan's supporters have hailed the Turkish leader's initiatives, arguing that they've reversed years of discrimination against practicing Muslims.

In July 2016, a failed military coup targeting Erdogan and his government left more than 200 people dead, including civilians and soldiers. In the wake of the coup attempt, Erdogan declared a state of emergency and vowed to "clean up" the military. "In Turkey, armed forces are not governing the state or leading the state. They cannot," he said.

Since the failed coup, authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown, arresting more than 50,000 people in the armed forces, police, judiciary, schools and media. Erdogan has blamed Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled cleric in the US and former ally, and his supporters of trying to undermine the government. But rights groups believe the allegations are a means to solidify his power and influence.

While Erdogan enjoys significant support in Turkey and the Turkish expatriate community, he has been criticized for his heavy-handed policies and military campaigns against Kurdish militants following the collapse of a peace process in 2015. This January, Erdogan launched a deadly offensive into the northern Syrian enclave of Afrin, an operation that was widely condemned by human rights groups.

Having served as Turkey's president since 2014, Erdogan successfully extended his time in office after winning elections in June. The elections marked Turkey's transition to an executive-style presidency. Observers believe the elections will herald a new era for Turkey for better or worse.

Author: Lewis Sanders IV

law/msh (AP, Reuters)

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Turkey transfers some powers to President Erdogan | News | DW ...

ANKARA, Turkey Turkey's highest electoral body on Wednesday certified the results of last month's parliamentary and presidential elections, paving the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to continue his 15-year rule with expanded powers.

The Supreme Electoral Council confirmed Erdogan's victory in the June 24 presidential race, declaring that he won 52.59 percent of the votes. His closest rival, Muharrem Ince of the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, gained 30.64 percent, while the imprisoned, pro-Kurdish candidate, Selahattin Demirtas, garnered 8.40 percent, the council confirmed.

According to the official result, Erdogan's conservative Justice and Development Party won 42.56 percent of the votes in the parliamentary ballot. The CHP's votes stood at 22.65 percent.

Erdogan, who is scheduled to be sworn into his new, five-year term on Monday, is set to rule with substantially expanded powers, in line with constitutional changes that were narrowly approved in a referendum last year.

Erdogan's party retains control of the parliament due to its alliance with Turkey's main nationalist party.

Earlier, the government issued a decree adjusting Turkey's laws to the new presidential system that comes into effect with the elections.

The decree, published in the Official Gazette, changes the wording in some 5,000 laws, removing references to the prime minister whose office has been abolished and transferring some powers to the president.

Under the new system, the president takes over the executive branch and forms the government, and appoints vice presidents, ministers and senior officials. The president can also issue decrees, prepare the budget and decide on security policies.

Critics say the new system amounts to one-man rule with few checks and balances.

Erdogan is also expected to form his government on July 9, shortly after he takes the oath of office.

The president has said he plans to streamline the cabinet, reducing the number of ministries from 26 to 16.

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Turkey's election board confirms Erdogan win | Fox News

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as Turkeys finance minister on Monday hours after he was sworn in with sweeping new executive powers, promising a strong government and a strong Turkey.

The lira TRYTOM=D3, which has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the dollar this year, dropped nearly 3 percent to 4.74 to the U.S. currency after the cabinet announcement.

Erdogan named his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as treasury and finance minister in an updated cabinet that excluded former deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek, seen as the main market-friendly minister in the previous government.

The lira has been battered by concern about Erdogans drive for lower interest rates and by comments in May that he planned to take greater control of the economy after the election, which he won on June 24.

Assuming the new executive presidency he has long fought to establish, Erdogan earlier took the oath of office in parliament before addressing international leaders gathered at the presidential palace in Ankara.

We, as Turkey and as the Turkish people, are making a new start here today, he told the dignitaries and thousands of guests. We are leaving behind the system that has in the past cost our country a heavy price in political and economic chaos.

Erdogan named Fuat Oktay, a former Turkish Airlines executive who studied in the United States, as vice president. Armed forces chief of staff Hulusi Akar was named defense minister. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu remained in his post.

Erdogan, 64, says a powerful executive presidency is vital to drive economic growth, ensure security after a failed 2016 military coup and safeguard Turkey from war across its southern border in Syria and Iraq.

We are embarking on this road by using this opportunity as best we can for a strong parliament, strong government and strong Turkey, he said.

The introduction of the new presidential system is the biggest overhaul of governance since the Turkish republic was established on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago.

The post of prime minister has been scrapped and the president will be able to select a cabinet, regulate ministries and remove civil servants, all without parliamentary approval.

Erdogans supporters see the changes as just reward for a leader who has put Islamic values at the core of public life, championed the pious working classes and overseen years of strong economic growth.

Opponents say the move marks a lurch to authoritarianism, accusing Erdogan of eroding the secular institutions set up by modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and driving it further from Western values of democracy and free speech.

Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Turkey and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, said Erdogans new powers effectively make him a super-executive president.

Most powers will be concentrated in his hands, there will no longer be a prime minister, and almost none of the checks and balances of liberal democracies will be present. In other words, Turkey will be an institutionalized autocracy.

State news agency Anadolu said Erdogans inauguration celebration was attended by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

No major Western leader featured on a list of 50 presidents, prime ministers and other high-ranking guests.

Turkey is a member of the Western military alliance, NATO, but it has been at odds with the United States over military strategy in Syria and with the European Union over Ankaras purges of state institutions, armed forces, police and media following the failed coup.

There are 16 ministers in Erdogans streamlined new cabinet, which Erdogan has said will be more efficient and act faster.

The new government faces immediate economic challenges. Inflation surged last month above 15 percent, its highest level in more than a decade, even though the central bank has raised interest rates by 5 percentage points since April.

Turkey also faces a widening current account deficit making it reliant on weak foreign investment to plug the gap.

Earlier on Monday the lira briefly dropped more than 1 percent after a decree removed a clause stipulating a five-year term for the central bank governor.

Scrapping the term would remove a shield that helps ensure the banks independence from politicians, former central banker Ugur Gurses said. A senior adviser to Erdogan later said that governors would still be appointed for a five-year term.

Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Daren Butler, Ali Kucukgocmen and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul, and Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by David Dolan and Gareth Jones; editing by Dominic Evans and Grant McCool

Original post:
Erdogan assumes new presidential powers, tightening ...

By Walid Shoebat (Shoebat Exclusive)

Erdogan proclaimed himself God. You heard it correctly.

But before I break it to you,I was asked yesterday by a friend (Vinny Zee) if Erdogan ever declared himself to be God, that my article yesterdayVinny alluded that ifothers calling Erdogan God and prophet, does not qualify, since in 2 Thessalonians 2, it is the Antichrist who declares himself to be God and not just his followers.

This is a valid argument. But to answer it, is not something for a speedy Gonzales who wants a quick outline,it takes more than a thousand words and a keen eye to dig deeper than the surface. Read this, consume it, and prevent yourself falling into the grip of the devil.

When I published my article yesterday, I did not include most of the research I discovered thinking to wait for a more beefy Tostada and that folks would trust my track record on being cautious, so I gave onlyan example or two. So here it is, to all my pestering friends, I will start with the minor then to the major.

Todays Zaman, a secular, not Christian, Turkish newspaper had this to say:

An alleged supporter of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) welcomed President Recep Tayyip Erdoan by chanting Welcome, O Messenger of God, a phrase commonly used to refer to the Prophet Muhammad, in the latest in a series of similar remarks attributing divine qualities to Erdoan.

Ok, I could hear the argument, some crazy parlamentarian calledhim prophet, so what. But it is not only one, Zaman adds:

In another example, AK Party Bursa deputy Hseyin ahin at one point said that touching Erdoan is a form of prayer, while AK Party Dzce deputy Fevai Arslan said Erdoan has all the attributes of God.

Now these are not some Joe-Schmo, these are AK Party deputiesfrom theGrand National Assembly of Turkeyandmembers of parliament.

AK Party Bursa deputy Hseyin ahin

A billboard lastmonth was erected for Erdogans birthday, February 26, in the Glba district ofadyamanprovince inviting people to attend a holy birthday event to celebrate the birthday of President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, except this celebration is not attributing the festivity for Erdogan as mere man, but as a prophet.

A billboard in the Glba district of Adyaman province invites people to attend a holy birthday event to celebrate the birthday of President Recep Tayyip Erdoan. (Photo: Cihan)

Zaman adds:

Among the activities planned for the event scheduled for 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 are a religious talk from theologian mer Dngelolu; a concert of hymns (known as ilahi [my God]praising God and extolling the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad) by Recep Aslan and Bilal Gregen; and a sema performance (whirling dervishes).

Religious talks, hymns and sema performances like those planned for the presidents birthday are common to religiouscelebrations held in honor of the Prophet Muhammads birth.

This is not treating Erdogan as mere man, but prophet. Whirling dervishes is not just Turkish art, but the process of Fana, on how one can become God.

Erdogan is also proclaimed as healer. When Erdogan once addressed the crowd from the platform, a woman was seen fainting. Erdogan gesticulated as if saying bring her over. Instead of being taken away byambulance, the allegedly sick woman was taken to Erdogan. The stretcher was elevated to the platform and Erdogan reached out to the woman. She grabbed his right hand with both hands, screaming what the dervishes you hear in the video: Allah, Allah, Allahu Akbar'.

Sleepy heads who are hung up on some Nicolae Jetty Carpathia, need to begin taking their heads out of the junk and need to begin to learn more about Sufism and how man can become divine:

ERDOGAN DEMANDS WORSHIP

Erdogan is hailed, not only as prophet or healer only, but as one who can change the laws of the universe: Spring has come to Sanliurfa. Both nature and history are rising up to greet our prime minister, says Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek on Erdogans visit to the southeastern province of Sanliurfa on March 9th. Yet the Finance Minister did not face any sanctions from Erdoganfor declaration of divinityand neither didAKP lawmaker Fevai Aslan who on January 16th when he said: Erdogan is a leader who gathers all of Allahs qualities in himself. Neither did theDeputy Health Minister Agah Kafkas was reprimanded when on May 19, 2013 hesaid: To do what Erdogan does is sunna.Sunna which theDeputy Health Minister was referring to is theobedience to Muhammad. In other words, to obey Erdogan is to obey the Prophet himself! And neither wasAKP lawmaker Huseyin Sahin on July 20, 2011 was reprimanded by Erdogan for saying: Believe me, even touching our prime minister is worship to me.

These are major figures and Erdogan as if he is Christ who did not denounce worshiping Him, Erdogan did not denounce worship either. And if one thinks that its only the followers who elevate Erdogan to prophet, healer, master of the universe and nature, or deity, think again. Just last weekmedia from Istanbul, wrote this regarding Edrogan himself, firing anyone who denounces him beingGod:

Turkeys Religious Affairs Directorate fired an imam who is highly regarded as a hafiz a person who has memorized the entire Quran in zmir on Feb. 23 because of posts on Facebook criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoans use of religious terminology to praise himself.The imam, who asks that his name not be revealed because of the judicial process he has started against the directorate, told Todays Zaman that directorate inspectors started an investigation against him when zmir Muftis Office filed a complaint in May of last year regarding posts the imam had written, arguing that language used by Erdoan and his followers goes against the principles of slam. The anonymous imam insisted that it is a duty of religious officials to warn people when their behavior, attitude and language contradict religious mandates.In a speech in March of last year that many theologians found to be problematic, then-Prime Minister Erdoan said, Our mercy will prevail over our wrath, to a crowd in Mula province, using terminology from a hadith qudsi (sacred hadith), a category of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad which are attributed to God. The hadith qudsi in question states: When God decreed the Creation, He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my wrath.

In other words, Erdogan Islamically proclaims himself as Allah. The statement Our mercy will prevail over our wrath in Islam only pertains to Allah himself.

But this is not only Erdogan using Islamic terminologies for such claims of deity. Speaking to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC)consisting of57 member statesfrom every Muslim nation on the globe,Erdogan uses termminology that only is known to have been said of Christ inthe Bible. For example, God, in Zechariah calls Jerusalem the apple of my eye and Erdogan does the samein denouncing what Christ said that Jerusalem is the apple of My Eye, that is Christs eye. Erdogan said:Jerusalem is the apple of every Muslims eye.Such biblical terminology belongs to Christ, God, regarding His Temple in Jerusalem. The prophet Zechariah prophetically declared what Jesus will proclaim regarding a temple that is propheticallybuilt for Him in Jerusalem with use of this terminology:

Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand.2I asked, Where are you going?

He answered me, To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.

While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him4and said to him: Run, tell that young man, Jerusalem will be a city without wallsbecause of the great numberof people and animals in it.And I myself will be a wallof firearound it, declares theLord, and I will be its glorywithin.

Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north, declares theLord, for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,declares theLord.

Come, Zion! Escape,you who live in Daughter Babylon!8For this is what theLordAlmighty says: After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered youfor whoever touches you touches the apple of his eyeI will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.Then you will know that theLordAlmighty has sent me.

How Erdogan knows this, or why he is using such blasphemy is unknown, or whether he manifests a demon or Lucifer himself remains to be seen. While Erdogan is the changer of Turkish laws, the dishonorer of womens desires, the writing is on the wall, this man undeniably desires to be deified and Jerusalem is his focus. Must this not be a reason for all who are required to heed Pauls instruction in 2 Thessalonians 2?

I believe it should. But we need all pieces to proclaim him The Antichrist. While he proclaims himself attributes of prophet and deity, he must enter the Temple of God making such declaration there. It is either Hagia Sophia, the Jewish Temple in Turkey or a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, only time will tell.

And it is not as if all of the sudden AKP party leaders have just come up with all this deification of Erdogan on their own. It is actually the reverse, their deification of Erdogan comes from him and through them they proclaimed him as God.

With a book written with his approval titled Recep Tayyip Erdogan: The Sun of the Age, whichproudly gives him titles that only belong to deitywhich even to Wahhabist Muslims, would sound bizarre, if not heretical. But whoever said that all of Arabia will accept Antichrist misses Scripture, that in Ezekiel 38, Sheba and Dedan mock his invasion of Israel and as we see Libyas Haftar and Egypts Al-Sisi, both hate Erdogan today, these are perfectly set up for the invasion by Antichrist in Daniel 11.

And to be amazed with Gods wonder, whoever wrote Daniel, had it not been God, as the naysayers deny, Daniel would have to have understood that Turkey being pro-Muslim Brotherhood and that Libya and Egypt are anti-Muslim Brotherhood, would be some genius who knew exactly the politics and demography of todays situation. Indeed, it is for thousands of these biblical points I read from the Holy Scripture was the reason I left Islam, left Antichrist, repented and I believe in Thy Name O Lord Jesus The Christ, The Son of The Living God Who died on the Cross of Calvary and resurrected on the third day as written in Scriptures . It is Thee whom I prostrate, it is Thee whom I worship. For to Thee, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Thee alone is Lord over the universe. It is Thee who is the Healer, the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. It is Thee whom every knee will bow, including Bel (Allah) and Nebo (the prophet) (see Isaiah 46:1).

Nabi or Nebo is prophet. This false prophet claims himself as god. To all Turks,touching Erdoganas a form of worship, and proclaimed that Erdogan carries all the attributes of Allah in himself is a great blasphemy. There is only one who is to be calledThe Sun of the Age, whocarries all the attributes of Godin himself, that is Christ.

So lets wait and see if Erdogan takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2 1-4

AKP deputy Duzce Miletvekili Feavi Arslan proclaimed that Erdogan carries all the attributes of Allah in himself.

Shoebat.compredicted this will be the outcome last year and even explained it theologically from a Muslim perspective (read here). Sufism is key, which we illustrated, before Erdogans coming out of the closet, this very issue, by quoting the most infamous of Islamic Sufi writers who is praised by Erdogan, Jalal al-Din Rumi,whowrote of how the goal of the Sufi is to become divine viaFana (eliminating the self to become God):

Remember the famous utterance of al-Hallaj, I am God. People think that to say I am God is a claim of great pretense and spiritual arrogance. It is actually a claim of extreme humility. I am God means I do not exist. He is all, everything is He, existence is Gods alone. I am without existence, pure non-existence. I am nothing. I am God is not a claim of great pretension, it is a claim of extreme humility. There is more humility in this than any supposed claim to greatness, but people do not understand the inner meaning. When a man acknowledges his servitude to God, he is aware of his being a servant. He may see himself as a devoted servant of God, but he still sees himself and his own actions as apart from the one reality of God. He is not drowned in the Ocean of Divine Unity. Drowned is he in whom there is not separate motion or mobility. Drowned is he whose movement is the movement of the water. And so it is with the enlightenment ones, those who declares, I am God. Anyone who says I am the servant of God asserts the reality of two existences, one for himself and the other for God.But he who says I am God andhas realized the deepest levels of unity within his being has seen through the illusion of his existence. He knows from the experience of unity that his own separate existence is nothing but an illusion. Knowing that, he casts its former selfhood upon the winds of oblivion. (Rumi, Hearts bear witness one to another, in The Complete Discourses of Jalal al-Din Rumi, discourse 11, p. 75, ed. Louis Rogers)

The deception is so immense that evenJoel Richardson, who writes in both of his books not only praised the foremostMuslim scholar behind Sufism,Jala al Din al Rumicomplementing him and asking his readers to learn from the Antichrist religions positive aspects stating that Rumi,the father of Sufism and Antichrist theology, as the essence and beacon for such transformation to God:

Jalal al Din al Rumiwas one of Islams greatest mystics. Hepracticed a mystical form of Islam known as Sufiism. Rumi often spoke of God as the Beloved or the Friend. Sufis such asRumi also placed far more emphasis on Jesus as their model for life than other Muslims.One cannot read many of Rumis writings without feeling as though he was very close to being a Christian. There is at leastone quote of Rumis that I have truly come to appreciate. Rumi said, One day I was going along looking to see in people the shining of the Friend, so I would recognize the Ocean in a drop.

How this shows love for Jesus by Rumi is astounding, he continues in his admiration of Rumi:

Rumi attempted to see God in all of His creation, and particularly in every one of His creatures.

Richardsons fascination with Rumi goes too far to even admire the very religion of Antichrists peaceful form of Islam, Sufism:

Maybe you say that we cannot find any goodness and light in the religion of the Antichrist. Butbelieve it or not, you can. And heres the reason:Islam is made of Muslims. And Muslims are people who are created in the image of God. And many of them are genuine God seekers. As such, evenin Islam there are things that Christians can learn from.

Even Christians who claim serpentine wisdom, fall, how will it be for the rest?

Erdogan is a master ofgreat deception. This is the first time in history that this connect was made. And it is not as if Erdogan is unaware of Rumis theology. Far from it. It was no surprise to us that the president of Turkey, Erdogan even praised Rumis work, revealing that he himself is not only Sufi but that he also believes inFanathe art annihilation and becoming God himself. Why else would Erdogan praise Rumis work TheMasnavi,saying:

A work can live for more than seven centuries only if it is written with love.

TheMasnaviis amongst Rumis most popular works, and it is inthis very bookthat the idea ofman becoming divineis adulated. He praises the Sufi declaration I am the Truth! saying, Mansurs I am the Truth! was purest light (Masnavi, 2.307, trans. Mojaddedi)

When Christ said I am The Truth He was declaring Himself to be God Almighty. Likewise in Sufi Islam, this also exists, yet mimicking Christ. In Sufi Islam for one to exclaim, I am the Truth, is to say I am God!

Here is the bottom line. Many missed it because they thought that Islam can never deify a man while others even fell for the deception. Islam is filled with disclaimers like we do not worship except Allah while they deify Muhammad, Khalifa and Mahdi, giving these the titles: Al-Maqam-Al- Mahmud (The Glorious One), Awal-Khalq-illah (The first of Creation), Muhammad (The Praised One), Al-Insan Al-Kamel (The Perfect Man), Rahmatan-lil-Aalameen (Mercy to All Mankind), Al-rasul Al-Atham (The Greatest of All sent by God), Shafi (Healer), Munji (Savior), Mahdi (The Guided One/Deliverer), Al-Mustafa Al-Mukhtar (The Chosen One), Amir (The Prince), which is the exact term for Antichrist in the Bible, Khatimun-Nabiyeen (The Seal of Prophets), Al-Hadi (The Guide), Awal (First), Akher (Last), Sayyid Walad Adam (The Leader of The Sons of Adam) and then at the same timeAl-Siraj Al- Muneer (The Luminous One, The Glowing Lamp, Lucifarian).

When one sees Erdogan triumphant with the crowds of millions carrying fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow flags (Revelation 19:17), proclaiming himself deity, changing the laws we should pay attention:

The man in Turkey will bring the worst persecution ever to the Church. In the meanwhile, please consider the serious issue on Christian persecution which will increase as we see these events unfold. we operate a very effective mission in rescuing fellow Christians. We are a unique organization (Rescue Christians) who rescue Christians, predominately in Pakistan that live under the Muslim yoke baking bricks in kilns under the heating sun. Christians in Pakistan are also burned in furnaces. To see an example out of the thousands we rescue, click here, and listen to the amazing testimonies first hand on how you can help and make a difference, now in this life and for eternity.Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.CONSIDER DONATING TO RESCUE CHRISTIANS

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