Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The Temple Mount And The Rebuilding Of The Temple
Hal Lindsey
The Temple Mount stands as ground zero for the current unrest. If that sounds familiar it’s because it has happened many times before. Those 35 acres of ground intensify emotions on both sides like nothing else. Jews would at least like to pray there — an idea that is anathema to the Muslims.
That small plot of land has inspired so much fear and rage among Muslims that in October, U.S. News and World Report ran an editorial by Ben Caspit calling on Israel to completely close the Temple Mount to Jews.
Caspit wrote, “Israel has no intention of taking control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque or changing the status quo involving the Temple Mount. The Palestinians, however, are more attentive to conspiracy theories based on statements by the messianic Israeli right. The thing is, the messianics stand at a great distance from the government, and anyone who relates to their words as a scenario soon to unfold is simply manipulating facts. None of this is important at the moment, however, because the Palestinians are convinced that Israel plans on usurping Al-Aqsa.”
The Muslim hysteria about Jews rebuilding the Temple may not be as farfetched as Caspit claims. A poll taken in 2010 showed that 49% of Israelis want to see the Temple rebuilt. Only 23% said it shouldn’t happen. The rest were undecided.
Whether they believe it’s possible or not, Palestinian leaders use fear of a rebuilt Jewish Temple to stir up their constituents to the point of violence. Even proposals to rebuild the temple without harming the mosques draws a frenzy of rage from the Muslims. No matter what Israel the promises, they fully expect the Jews to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It’s interesting that so many Palestinians are convinced that there will be another Jewish Temple on the site. Few of them know it, but they’re agreeing with the Bible. It says that before the mid-point of the seven-year period known as Daniel’s 70th Week, the temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices will be offered again.
Daniel 11:31 says that forces from the Antichrist “will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.” [NASB] To “do away with the regular sacrifice,” and to “set up the abomination of desolation”requires that the temple be rebuilt.
In the meantime, to understand the Temple Mount hysteria among Muslims, we need to understand the spiritual dimensions of the problem. This is not just a real estate dispute. It is about principalities and powers. Satan will stir anyone he can, as much as he can, in an attempt to keep the holy place in a state of desecration.
But he cannot stop God’s plan. The mighty can never defeat the Almighty.
Unbelieving religious Jews will rebuild the false temple and offer false animal sacrifices during the first part of the Tribulation. (Daniel 11:31) Then the “man of lawlessness”, the Antichrist, will desecrate that false temple of God by taking his seat in the Holy of Holies, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NASB) That event will start the last half of the Tribulation. That will start 3½ years of the greatest horrors yet known to mankind. It will end with the visible Coming of THE ALMIGHTY, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will rule for 1000 years of peace. Then is the last Judgment of all unbelievers of all Ages. He will then establish forever the New Heaven and Earth.
Russia Is Now World's Largest Gold Buyer
The World’s Largest Gold Buyer Is Now Russia
By Alex Kimani
The country has announced plans to increase output by 50 percent over the next seven years and by 100 percent by 2030. Moscow bought nearly 100 percent of the country’s gold output last year.
By Alex Kimani
For several years now, Russia’s central bank has been on a gold-buying spree, bulking up its already impressive stockpiles and setting off all manner of speculation.
And the buying frenzy appears to be going nowhere. According to the bank’s latest press release, the country bought another 597,000 ounces or 18.67 tonnes of gold in June, bringing its total reserves to 2,208 tonnes worth about $100.3 billion.
Russia purchased 200,000 ounces in January, one million ounces in February, 600,000 ounces in March, 550,000 ounces in April and 200,000 ounces in May thus bringing year-to-date purchases to more than 96 tonnes. Moscow’s appetite for the yellow metal appears insatiable. Gold now makes up 19 percent of the country’s foreign reserves compared to just two percent a decade ago.
Russia is now officially the world’s largest gold buyer.
Conspiracy theories
The World Gold Council (WGC) has reported an overarching trend towards gold, saying the world’s central banks purchased a total of 651.5 tonnes of the metal last year — the largest amount in 48 years. Global gold reserves increased eight percent in June, marking the highest monthly gain in three years.
As Juan Carlos Artigas WGC director of investment research told Kitco News in April: “What is more interesting to understand in the case of Russia … is not just these large numbers, but the trend. Emerging market central banks have been buying gold fairly consistently since 2010 … because central banks are looking to diversify their reserves, they are looking for safety and gold provides that to them.’’ But that has stopped the Rumorverse from spinning and conspiracy theories trying to decipher central banks’ love affair with gold emerging.
Adrian Ash, Director of Research at BullionVault says Putin’s heavy gold buying is bad for world peace: “Heavy gold-buying by governments or central banks is rarely a good sign for world peace and co-operation.”
Adrian though does have a valid point. Several anti-American nations including Russia have gone on a de-dollarization drive as they dump their dollar holdings and buy gold instead. Russia has also ramped up gold production and is now the world’s third-largest producer.
The country has announced plans to increase output by 50 percent over the next seven years and by 100 percent by 2030. Moscow bought nearly 100 percent of the country’s gold output last year.
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Spreading Throughout European Hospitals
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs have been spreading in European hospitals, according to the BBC, citing a recent study.
The spread of Klebsiella pneumoniae is "extremely concerning" according to reserarchers with the Sanger Institute, who warn that other bacteria could become similarly resistant to "last resort" drugs known as carbapenems 'because of the unique way bacteria have sex.'
"The alarming thing is these bacteria are resistant to one of the key last-line antibiotics," said Dr. Sophia David of the Sanger Institute, adding "The infections are associated with a high mortality rate."
"It's already worrying that we're seeing 2,000 deaths in 2015 - but the concern is that if action isn't taken, then this will continue to rise."
It can live completely naturally in the intestines without causing problems for healthy people.However, when the body is unwell, it can infect the lungs to cause pneumonia, and the blood, cuts in the skin and the lining of the brain to cause meningitis. -BBC
Sanger's study of carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae is the largest to date, with 244 hospitals participating from Ireland to Israel.
Researchers analysed the bacterium's DNA - its genetic code - from samples from infected patients."Our findings imply hospitals are the key facilitator of transmission [and suggest that] the bacteria are spreading from person-to-person primarily within hospitals," said Dr David."The fact that we see the same high-risk clones in many different hospitals around Europe also shows there's something special about those strains." -BBC
Researchers are concerned that K. pneumoniae will continue to spread, or even worse, pass along its resistance to other species of bacteria. According to the report, "two bacteria can meet up and have bacterial sex - called conjugation - and a short string of genetic information, called a plasmid, is shared between them." Sanger's study shows that "the instructions that give K. pneumoniae carbapenem resistance written on to plasmids."
"These have the ability to spread very rapidly through bacterial populations," said David.
False Paradigms And Mind Control
Brandon Smith
When people are confronted with the idea of “mind control” they often think of something out of television or film media; a lone prisoner tortured, chemically dazed and conditioned into a hollow zombie as his captors squeeze information from him or use him to complete a task he would not normally do or morally accept. And while there is actually some truth to this kind of Hollywood depiction, as is evidenced in the exposure of government programs like MK Ultra, the most insidious forms of mind control are far more subtle.
Governments and the elitists behind them do not necessarily need to physically cage, drug and brutalize people in order to influence how they behave. All they need to do is manage their perceptions, expectation and assumptions. This can be accomplished with large portions of the public, rather than one person at a time.
About two thirds of any given population are capable of being hypnotized to varying degrees. Stanford University has been avidly searching for a brain pattern that acts as a fingerprint for those that are more prone to hypnotic influence, and they believe they have found certain factors involving areas of the brain that handle heightened focus and attention. Reduced peripheral awareness also helps to increase the subject's vulnerability to hypnosis and vastly increases suggestibility.
These conditions can in fact be encouraged in large crowds of people. Consider this for a moment – What daily activity is the average person involved in that hyperfocuses their attention on a single point in space for long periods of time and removes almost all of their peripheral awareness? If you said “cell phone use” then you win a chicken dinner. Beyond creating an artificial and constant low dose of dopamine in the human brain leading to addiction, cell phones and other small electronic devices actually create the perfect conditions for a person to be hypnotized as they rip them away from all peripheral awareness and make them highly suggestible to those who know how to use covert methods.
I think some of the political applications of this are obvious.
The false left/right paradigm is a perfect petri dish for obtaining or manufacturing the consent of the masses to be hypnotized. They WANT to believe that their team, which they have willingly joined, is the correct team and that the leadership of that team has their best interests at heart. They want to believe that the actions of their party, through legislation or direct means, are always rational and morally sound. And, even when the leaders of their party do things which are completely contrary to the beliefs and morals of the people who make up the party, those people still want to believe that there must be some logical reason behind these decisions that they do not yet grasp.
Beyond this, the threat of the “other party” or team is an ever constant stimulus in the form of fear. We watch the scripted battles of these two fabricated teams play out in elaborate forms of Kabuki theater, yet nothing ever really changes except that the global elites grow more powerful. Still, many people actually believe these battles to be real, and invest immense amounts of energy and focus into them as if the fate of the world is being decided within the antics of a political soap opera.
When people are afraid or hyperfocused on an outside threat, they once again become more suggestible. This is why mainstream political discussions focus less on understanding of the threat (the "How" and the "Why") and more on perpetuating the threat. With understanding of the enemy (or false enemy), the threat can be assessed and fear is reduced, even if the threat is real. Without understanding, fear only increases. Political powers seek to constantly remind us that threats exist without allowing us the benefit of context. They do not want us to have an in-depth knowledge of the mechanics behind the threats.
In the case of information and proclamations some people would not investigate, because it is more comfortable to believe the lies, or perhaps because they will be rewarded for going along with the status quo. Only when we become willing to sacrifice comfort, when we stop wanting to accept everything we are told at face value and start questioning the reality that is handed to us, only then will the mass hypnosis we were once influenced by lose its power.
Narcopaths are well known for creating confusion around them in order to gain control of the people in their lives or the people in a room. They are also known for being willing to build up certain routines and acclimating people around them to a particular environment, only to suddenly disrupt it all as a means to stun their victims and create subservience. It is important to realize that these people do NOT necessarily care about stability. In fact, they often will actively sabotage stability to obtain something they care about more – control.
The strategies that individual narcopaths exhibit on a small scale are simply magnified thousands of times when we talk about the behaviors of the global elitists.
People who consider themselves rational are hard pressed to comprehend this kind of behavior, but there is a devious tactical logic to it. Mind control of others can be achieved by keeping those people infinitely off-balance. Conjuring moments of tenuous peace, and then striking with cycles of unpredictable crisis
Real mind control and mass hypnosis requires, as already mentioned, our consent, but it is consent that is conned out of us. It is conned out of us by fake leaders with intentions and actions that do not match their promises. It is conned out of us by a system that breeds conformity of thought and tells us that those who think outside the widely accepted norm are aberrant and “crazy”. It is conned out of us by our own weaknesses – our desire to go along to get along, our fear of confronting the crowd and telling them they are wrong, our fear of losing what we think is stability, or our fear of being on our own.
Real mind control is not about torture and force, it is about quietly induced acceptance. We can remove our consent from the hypnotists anytime we wish, but we have to be willing to stop ignoring certain realities. We have to be willing to feel the pain that comes when we recognize we have been conned and controlled in the past, and we have to revel in our ability to refuse to conform. It must become a part of who we are – the people who do not take what we are told at face value. The people that question almost everything. The people who cannot be mesmerized.
Deadly Silence On Iran's Maritime Violations
- Tehran is clearly violating international law, specifically the internationally-agreed UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).... The theocratic establishment of Iran is a signatory to this UN convention but has long refrained from ratifying it.
- Wherever silence prevails, rogue states thrive. In the instance of Iran, the silence of the international community has been earsplitting. Moreover, any destructive behavior left unchecked is being passively reinforced; if the international community continues its silence while their unruly pet violates UN resolutions and maritime laws, they can only expect such violations to become the norm.
- The UN needs to hold the Iranian leaders accountable and take appropriate measures against Iran's aggression in the Gulf. If the UN fails to do this, other nations would be stupid not to take the cue deliberately to disobey existing international laws -- possibly leading to a major war.
In recent times, nothing has exemplified the double standards of the international community more than its laid-back response to the illicit activitiesand recklessness of Iran in international waterways during the last few months.
Bizarrely, the international community and its ever-so-willing apologists cronies in the mainstream media seem more interested in chasing shadows with their constant criticism of Israel, while slyly ignoring the main culprit, Iran, which continues to jeopardize safety, peace and security in the region and worldwide.
In May 2019, for instance, four tankers were attacked close to the port of Fujairah off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, in what was a violation of their territorial space. Within a month, on the June 13, two ships – the Japanese Kokuka Courageous and the Norwegian Front Altair -- crossing the Gulf of Oman were sabotaged with explosives. One went up in flames; the other was left to be towed away.
A few weeks later, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released a video showing commandos in black ski masks and military fatigues descending from a helicopter to seize a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians would on go to shoot down an American drone over International waters. All of these provocations have somehow seemed to be slipped under the radar by the UN and other powers that be.
If violations by the Iranian government such as those above are disconcerting, even more unsettling are their threats completely to shut the Strait of Hormuz.
This is not be the first time the Iranian leaders are making such dangerous threats. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, in fact, the regime has frequently threatened to block or cause serious damage to the shipment of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Threatening to block one of the world's most critical maritime passages has been a core pillar of Iran's foreign policy. Almost four decades of the Islamic Republic reveals that the theocratic establishment has historically threatened to choke off the Strait of Hormuz whenever it fails to achieve or further advance its revolutionary, ideological, and political objectives through other means, including interference and interventions in the domestic affairs of other nations.
Wherever silence prevails, rogue states thrive. In the instance of Iran, the silence of the international community has been earsplitting. Moreover, any destructive malign behavior left unchecked is being passively reinforced; hence, if the international community continues to keep silent, while their unruly pet violates UN resolutions and maritime laws, they can only expect such violations to become the norm.
Picture a scenario in which Israel is the country committing these violations; by now, we would perhaps be struggling to keep up with the long list of resolutions against the Jewish state. The UN needs to hold the Iranian leaders accountable and take appropriate measures against Iran's aggression in the Gulf. If the UN fails to do this, other nations would be stupid not to take the cue deliberately to disobey existing international laws -- possibly leading to a major war. I hope this day never comes.
More Censorship: YouTube Banning Critics Of 5G
By Ethan Huff
A family from Sacramento, California, is being punished by the “gods” of Big Tech for sounding the alarm about the dangers associated with 5G “small cell” towers, which are beginning to pop up in residential neighborhoods all across the country.
After a 5G small cell tower was recently installed directly outside their home, the Davidsons took to social media to warn that the transmission device was causing both electromagnetic sensitivity and microwave sickness, two conditions that are also associated with exposure to “smart” electric meters.
The Davidson family also created the 5G Awareness Now blog, as well as a GoFundMe page, both of which gained so much widespread support that the tech giants decided to throw a wrench into things.
According to reports, the Davidson family’s YouTube page was recently suspended for pretty much no reason other than the information they were sharing threatens the telecom industry, which now admits that there’s no evidence to suggest that 5G is biologically safe for humans.
“Verizon is currently installing antennas on top of light poles all throughout my neighborhood,” the Davidsons explain on their GoFundMe page. “One of these antennas was installed just 45 feet from our family’s home.”
“Shortly after the antenna was installed, several members of my family, including my two young nieces, began experiencing health problems,” the family adds. “The shielding significantly reduced our exposure but it is still very high. I have been in contact with several members of my community that have also experienced health problems they attribute to the antennas.”
But it’s apparently now a digital “crime” to talk about any of this publicly, as YouTube quickly leapt into action to scrub the Davidson’s account once the Google-owned company caught wind of their grassroots, community-based “uprising” to stop these 5G small cell towers from blanketing their otherwise quiet and safe neighborhood.
YouTube also doesn’t like that the Davidsons are trying to raise awareness about the questionable permitting situation for these residential antennas, which appear to exceed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limits for ground-level walking surface radiation exposure.
“There are hundreds of studies suggesting we will be harmed by these antennas,” the family warns, explaining how they’ve banded together with others in their neighborhood to get the existing antennas removed, as well as prevent any future ones from being installed.
“The World Health Organization has classified RF radiation as a possible carcinogen. We do not want to be subjected to this threat all day, every day, inside our own homes. It is abuse and it is not ok.”
With more than one million 5G small cell towers slated for installation across America over the next several years, the Davidsons are trying to rally as many troops as possible to help fight their implementation before it’s too late.
U.S. To Roll Out Peace Plan Soon?
US planning to roll out peace plan at meeting with Arab leaders
The United States is reportedly planning a conference with Arab leaders at Camp David, during which US President Donald Trump will roll out his plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Invitations to the conference will be extended by Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, as he visits Israel and the Middle East this week to drum up support for the plan, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Wednesday.
During the conference, which is set to be held before the general elections in Israel on September 17, Trump will outline the broad strokes of his plan without making any binding proposals, the newspaper said.US officials have previously stated the plan would not be released until after the Israeli elections.
According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helped plan the meeting, which could be a boon to his reelection hopes.
Citing an unnamed US source, Yedioth said Netanyahu is not expected to be invited to Camp David, however, as his presence could deter Arab leaders from attending.
The report did not say which countries will receive an invite. Besides Israel, Kushner and the US peace team are set to travel to Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
At the Camp David meeting, the paper, said Trump will voice support for a Palestinian political entity but not necessarily a state, as well as for a Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem, though not necessarily a capital.
Such proposals would likely be rejected out of hand by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who backs the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The US has so far kept the political elements of its plan under wraps, while the economic aspects of it were presented last month by Kushner at an American-led conference in Bahrain.
In his meetings with Arab leaders, Kushner will also tout Israel’s approval of a plan to grant 700 building permits to Palestinians in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, which the report said could help sell the US peace proposal.
The security cabinet, in approving those permits on Tuesday, also greenlighted 6,000 construction licenses for homes in neighboring settlements.
The approvals were praised by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who in an interview with CNN said the administration’s plan seeks “Palestinian autonomy” and self-governance, but stopped short of endorsing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Details Emerge Of Israeli 'Mystery' Airstrikes On Iranian Arms Depot In Iraq
Mystery Airstrikes On Iraqi Camp Were Israeli Stealth Jets In "Anti-Iran" Escalation
Regional experts had immediately suspected the possibility of an Israeli air raid after a pro-Iranian militia arms depot in Iraq was obliterated during a mysterious attack on July 19, and another reported follow-up attack this past Sunday.
The attack happened around 80 km from the Iranian border and 40 km north-east of Baghdad at Camp Ashraf, former home to the Iranian exile group Mojahedin-e Khalq, but now reportedly in the hands of Iranian intelligence and paramilitaries.
Speculation was rampant in the days that followed as to the source of the 'mysterious' air strikes - or what was also initially reported as a drone strike - however, some pointed the finger at an American operation targeting Iranian militants inside Iraq
But now Israeli and regional media, citing western diplomats, have confirmed it was a nearly unprecedented Israeli operation on Iraqi soil — representing a major escalation and expansion of Israel's anti-Iran operations.
Israel reportedly launched a total of two separate air strike operations on the camp using its US-supplied F-35 stealth fighter jets.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:
Israel has expanded the scope of its anti-Iranian attacks and struck targets in Iraq, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Tuesday.
According to the report, which cites anonymous Western diplomats, Israel struck Iranian warehouses storing arms and missiles at Camp Ashraf, north-east of Baghdad, twice in the past month.
On July 19, the base was struck by an Israeli F-35 fighter jet, the sources added. The base was allegedly attacked again on Sunday.
The report alleges the primary target included a shipment of Iranian ballistic missiles which recently entered Iraq via the nearby Iranian border.
And though not confirmed, the report further claimed that "Iranian advisers" had been injured in the series of airstrikes.
Israel has over the past couple of years conducted "hundreds" of attacks inside Syria, which defense officials have claimed were primarily against Iranian and Hezbollah bases, but if this month's air strikes on Camp Ashraf are confirmed Israeli assaults, it would constitute a major widening in terms of the scope of Tel Aviv's "anti-Iran" targeting operations.
The news is also sure to enrage officials in Baghdad, who will mount protests defending Iraqi sovereignty. Israel hasn't mounted a known significant attack on Iraqi soil since the days of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
China Sends Forces To Hong Kong Border; Blames The U.S. For Protests
Massive anti-Beijing protests which have gripped Hong Kong over the past month, and have become increasingly violent as both an overwhelmed local police force and counter-protesters have hit back with force, are threatening to escalate on a larger geopolitical scale after the White House weighed in this week.
With China fast losing patience, there are new reports of a significant build-up of Chinese security forces on Hong Kong's border, as Bloomberg reports:
From nearly the start of the protests which began over a proposed extradition bill (which would see Hong Kong citizens under legal accusation potentially extradited to the mainland) interpreted as major Chinese overreach inside historically semi-autonomous Hong Kong, officials in Beijing have suggested an "external plot" afoot, more recently alleging the hidden hand of the United States.
The latest charge made Tuesday by mainland government officials is that the still escalating Hong Kong unrest is the "creation of the US" — something which the Trump admin official speaking under anonymity to Bloomberg firmly denied.
On Monday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a press interview that "protest is appropriate" and that "we hope the Chinese will do the right thing" regarding respecting Hong Kong's historic "one country, two systems" status. This was enough to elicit a quick response alleging US meddling out of Beijing on Tuesday.
“The White House is monitoring a buildup of chinese forces on Hong Kong’s border, a senior administration official said.” Here we go..the moment the pla army marches from Shenzhen, it’s over. china’s army is going to invade HK. It’s inevitable. #hk #china
“It’s clear that Mr. Pompeo has put himself in the wrong position and still regards himself as the head of the CIA,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news briefing. "He might think that violent activities in Hong Kong are reasonable because after all, this is the creation of the U.S.”
For now, few details are known concerning the reported "build-up" of Chinese forces on the border, which could consist of military forces, as Bloomberg added to its report:
The nature of the Chinese buildup wasn’t clear; the official said that units of the Chinese military or armed police had gathered at the border with Hong Kong. The official briefed reporters on condition he not be identified.
U.S.-Israel Completes Successful Tests Of Arrow 3 Missile Defense System
Israel and the United States completed a series of successful tests of their advanced Arrow 3 missile defense system in Alaska, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
The weapon system successfully demonstrated hit-to-kill interceptions of ballistic targets in space, according to the ministry, which added that the operation was conducted in Alaska in order to test capabilities that cannot be tested in Israel.
The system also proved capable of simultaneously intercepting multiple targets, Channel 12 news reported.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the joint operation at the opening of the weekly Sunday cabinet meeting, saying the “secretive” tests had been conducted over the course of the past several weeks.
“They were successful beyond any imagination. The Arrow 3 – with complete success – intercepted ballistic missiles beyond the atmosphere at unprecedented altitudes and speeds,” the premier said.
The Defense Ministry did not specify at what altitudes its defense system had managed to intercept the test missiles.
“Today Israel has the ability to act against ballistic missiles that could be launched against us from Iran or anywhere else,” Netanyahu added.
Turkey's Movement Away From NATO And Towards Gog-Magog Alliance - As Predicted
by Burak Bekdil
- Few observers back then warned that Erdoğan's pro-West façade was fake and his deep adherence to political Islam, an enemy of the Western civilization, would one day urge him to seek non-Western alliances.
- Turkey's choice of a Russian-made air defense system that is primarily designated to hit NATO aerial assets is a reflection of its anticipation of an aerial military conflict with a NATO member in the future.
- No doubt, the S-400 is also a sign of Erdogan's disregard for Turkey's increasingly problematic place in the Western alliance. Erdoğan's ideologues keep on portraying the U.S. as an "enemy country," and many Turks increasingly buy that line. Seven out of 10 Turks now report feeling threatened by U.S. power....
Ironically, it was an anti-Islamist, Kemalist Turkish general who first suggested that Turkey should align its foreign policy with the rising powers of Eurasia -- all of Europe plus Asia. It was just eight months before President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) first came to power, and since then, has remained undefeated. The U.S. at the time was busy with the final touches on the military operation that would oust Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, in March 2003.
General Tuncay Kılınç, the powerful secretary general of Turkey's National Security Council, said that Turkey should seek an alternative alliance with Russia and Iran
It was not a coincidence that in 2009 the Turkish military became the first NATO force to have joint military drills with the Syrian army. In 2010, Turkey became the first NATO member state to have exercises with China's air force.
Erdoğan's decision to deploy the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system in Turkish (NATO) territory reflects his ideological anti-Western thinking.
It was not a coincidence either that Erdoğan in 2013 demanded from Russian President Vladimir Putin a seat at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian would-be replica of NATO. "Allow us into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and save us from this [EU membership] trouble," Erdoğan told Putin.
Turkey became the first NATO member state to become a "dialogue partner" with the regional body -- colloquially known as the Shanghai Five -- in April 2013. The SCO's members include Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
In simple terms, Eurasianism broadly encompasses the idea that Turkey should reorient away from the West in favor of an Eastern and Central Asian hinterland.
Apparently Erdoğan's Turkey is an ideal theater: it can perform an oriental rehearsal. No doubt, the S-400 is also a sign of Erdogan's disregard for Turkey's increasingly problematic place in the Western alliance. Erdoğan's ideologues keep on portraying the U.S. as an "enemy country," and many Turks increasingly buy that line. Seven out of 10 Turks now report feeling threatened by U.S. power, an increase of 28 percentage points since 2013 -- a higher jump than in any country recently polled.
While all this is happening, Erdoğan is trying further to establish Turkey as a reliable Eurasian partner, not just by instrumenting its rigid pro-Russian policy calculus.
In a recent visit to Beijing, Erdoğan repeated that Turkey would join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. His other words were also music to Chinese ears: Erdoğan mentioned Turkey's respect for "one China". The "One China" doctrine dictates that Chinese territory, including disputed Taiwan and Uyghur territories, are part of the People's Republic of China and cannot be divided.
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