The nations of Turkey and Egypt are experiencing mounting internal destabilization. In each nation, the Islamist governments are in trouble as the general populace rises in anger against them. In Turkey, there have been popular demonstrations which have grown steadily over at least ten days and have spread to 78 Turkish cities. The clashes between government police and the demonstrators have become more violent with 4,300 injuries reported (see first link). This Washington Post article also opines that Prime Minister Recep Erdogan could “inflame tensions” further as he adopts a more bellicose approach to the demonstrators. The Post article cites the main reasons for the demonstrations as a reaction to Erdogan’s “authoritarian ways” and his efforts to impose aspects of Islamicist law on Turkey’s longstanding secular Islamic national lifestyles.
The second link is noteworthy as it reports members of (and high elected officials within) Erdogan’s own political party are now joining the demonstrations against him or speaking against his policies. If this trend continues, Erdogan’s power base will erode further.
The third link reports that some of Erdogan’s Islamist policies that sparked off the popular uprising against him was his plan to place “far-reaching restrictions against alcohol” and his public statement that Turkish “women should have at least three children.” I wonder how Erdogan’s authoritarian policies would enforce that last goal of his?
Turkey is located in a strategically-important location that bridges Asia and Europe and is also important as a member of NATO. However, the more Islamist and authoritarian Erdogan’s policies become, the more it appears that he is leaving the democratic traditions of the NATO nations and also abandoning Turkey’s long-time devotion to the policies of Kemal Ataturk (after whom the nation of Turkey is named) that Turkey should remain a secular Islamic nation. This is a remarkable development as Turkey’s secular Moslems are rising against a leader who wants to take them in a direction that is Islamist and which could eventually result in Sharia law being imposed in Turkey. The national demonstrations show vast throngs of Turks want none of Erdogan’s vision for an Islamist Turkey.
The fourth link deals with current conditions in Egypt. Conditions for average Egyptians have grown steadily worse since the election of an Islamist leader who wants to impose the Islamic fundamentalism of his Muslim Brotherhood party on the nation. The article reports the popularity of President Mohammad Morsi has reached an all-time low as economic conditions worsen for Egyptians. Importantly, it also reports that “Egypt’s highest court ruled… [recently] that the Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected.” That ruling will put more pressure on the Egyptian military’s loyalties, even though that fact is not cited in the article.
The fifth link reports that Egypt’s internal situation has deteriorated so badly that Egypt is now one of the most dangerous places on earth to which tourists could travel. This news will spread widely throughout the world, and this can only make the Egyptian people suffer even more under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood party. Many Egyptians are desperate for tourists’ money to survive. When enough Egyptian people cannot feed their families, they will likely revolt against their Islamist leader.
From a biblical perspective, neither Egypt nor Turkey (“Edom”) are mentioned as being in the Gog-Magog alliance now centered around Russia, China and Iran. Both were important ancient nations and are very important Mideast nations today. That the Bible did not predict their inclusion in the latter-day Gog-Magog alliance argues that both nations will ultimately not be allies of Russia, China or Iran at the end of this age (see my article What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III [PDF] if you desire more detailed information).
-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/report-pro-government-supporters-attack-demonstrators-in-southern-turkish-city/2013/06/09/a87f49e2-d0e2-11e2-9577-df9f1c3348f5_story.html
-
http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/06/10/erdogan-backers-join-protests-see-threat-of-emerging-dictatorship/
