Turkey Purges Army, Turns Nasty On Jews

Turkish police arrest 50 in move against anti-Islamist coup ›

Update: March 3 2010: 86 Years Without An Islamist Caliphate

Erdogan & his gang of Islamists need to be overthrown to prevent Turkey from  reverting back to pre Kemal Ataturk policies. The Turkish Army was always the guarantor of secularism. The Islamic revival movement  will not be gone anytime soon – definitely not by elections, and not by other means, only the army can remove them. Remember – the Islamists may take power democratically but they will never rule democratically. Under Erdogan, Turkey has become increasingly hostile towards the West and Israel and has made overtures towards Iran and Syria.

Turkish police arrest 50 in move against anti-Islamist coup

Suna Erdem/Times Online

Turkish police arrested the former heads of the Navy and Air Force along with several other senior military officers yesterday in a sweep against top brass linked to a coup plan against the Islamist-leaning Government.

The existence of Sledgehammer, a detailed plot hatched in 2002-03, came to light last month. The arrests could be a spectacular milestone in the democratic history of Turkey, where four previous governments have been ousted by the military but no one has come to trial.

“This morning our security forces began a detention process,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister, said during an official visit to Spain.

By the end of the day almost 50 people — including Ibrahim Firtina, the former Air Force commander, and Ozden Ornek, the former Navy commander, five other senior former generals and seven serving soldiers — had been detained in a series of early-morning raids in nine cities. They were taken to Istanbul for questioning by anti-terrorism police. More>>

Turkey: Treatment of Jews reportedly deteriorating

Islam is tolerant, we’re told, and yet somehow, every country with an increasingly Islamic bent seems to suffer increasing problems with intolerance. “Are Turkish Jews being mistreated?” by Aviel Magnezi for YNetNews, H/T Jihad Watch:

Liberal Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported Sunday that religious leaders from various faiths convened in Istanbul about two-and-a-half weeks ago to discuss the status of the city’s non-Muslim residents, including Jews.

The representatives claimed that the treatment of non-Muslims has deteriorated.

According to the newspaper, local authorities are forbidding non-Muslim communities from appointing a leader. Instead, the report said, authorities demand a sole representative for residents of all faiths, thus preventing the Jewish community in Istanbul from appointing a new chief rabbi.

Milliyet further reported that there is evidence of a growing trend in the city whereby Christian and Jewish schoolchildren are being separated from Muslim pupils.

Furthermore, the newspaper said, government officials recently raided the “Hemdat Yisrael” synagogue in Istanbul during a Shabbat prayer session and demanded to see documentation proving that the worshipers are residents of the city.

“Everyone is apathetic; people immerse themselves in their work, but you can sense that the reality has changed,” a local Jewish man said of the atmosphere in Istanbul, “The situation is redolent of other eras in history.”

However, Turkey’s Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva said the situation was not as dire as the report indicated, claiming that most of the incidents mentioned were the result of a misunderstanding between the Jewish community and local authorities.

Haleva added that “following talks with the relevant authorities”, a new chief rabbi for the Jewish community in Turkey will be appointed in the coming days.

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