Erdoğan’s campaign for Turkey’s al-Qaeda: Case of Mullah Muhammed

[TomSea]

[OPINION] Erdoğan’s campaign for Turkey’s al-Qaeda: Case of Mullah Muhammed
By TM -  August 5, 2017

Abdullah Bozkurt

The mindset of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is not so different than that of al-Qaeda when it comes to defending distorted Islamic views to advance his political goals. This is perhaps best illustrated with the case of radical imam Mehmet Doğan (aka Mullah Muhammed), who openly declared his admiration for Osama bin Laden and called for an armed jihad in Turkey. Erdoğan vigorously defended this indicted cleric, helped him get acquitted with his loyalist judges and prosecutors when he was arrested and tried, jailed journalists who criticized his radical group and even launched a botched civil suit in the US against Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen for defaming this fanatic.

The question is why Erdoğan, a top Islamist politician in Turkey, has gone to such extreme measures to defend this radical hate preacher and his thuggish group called Tahşiyeciler in Turkish. The answer lies in the shared values and common apocalyptic worldview Erdoğan holds together with these fanatics when it comes to hating non-Muslims and despising Muslims who try to reach out to other faiths as part of attempts at interreligious dialogue around the globe. Another reason would be that Erdoğan tapped this group as a recruitment ground to send militants to fight his proxy battles in Syria, Iraq and other places. Judging from the group’s active cells in Germany and France, perhaps Erdoğan also hopes to use them as leverage in his spoiler card game against EU member states.

Continued: https://www.turkishminute.com/2017/08/05/opinion-erdogans-campaign-for-turkeys-al-qaeda-case-of-mullah-muhammed/

I thought I was done but this is a bit interesting.