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The Growing Turmoil in the Turkish Republic
April 15, 2025
The turmoil in Turkey began after the imprisonment of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul, in March 2025. Residents of Istanbul have been demonstrating daily, decrying the actions of President Erdoğan.
These events have their roots in 2017. At the time, I posted “The Decline and Fall of the Turkish Republic,” describing some major changes in Turkey’s political order.
The following excerpts from the above article:
“On April 16, 2017, a Referendum to amend the Turkish Constitution passed, which gave President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan new powers in governing the country. His victory was slim as the ‘Yes’ vote was around 51.3%, and the ‘No’ vote, 48.7%. The three largest cities – Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir – voted against the changes.
“On April 20, 2017, the Arabic online journal Al-Awan, published an article lamenting the ‘Decline and Fall of the Turkish Republic.’ Here are excerpts that summarize the views of the author.
“‘Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken the final steps to make himself an absolute dictator of the Turkish Republic, thus ending an important chapter in the political history of Turkey and the Middle East. People used to admire the Turkish political experiment. Moderate Islamists considered Turkey as a model for coexistence between Islam and democracy. Arab Nationalists pointed to Turkey as an example of the compatibility between nationalism and democracy. Liberals pointed to the existence of fair elections, freedom of expression, and a free market economy in Turkey.’
“Gradually, Erdoğan followed a different type of governance than what was enshrined in the Constitution. Prior to the Referendum, he assumed total power not accorded to him by the Constitution. The Prime Minister, according to the law, was the one who presided over the affairs of the government. Erdoğan degraded the role of the prime minister to act as his mouthpiece.
“Erdoğan began by battling the media, the courts, and the military, one by one. Then came the attempted Coup of July 15, 2016. Right away, he arrested more than 70,000 officers, judges, journalists, and university professors. He did all that without any proof of their involvement in the coup attempt.
“The result of the Referendum was disappointing to him. He won by a slim majority; irregularities took place in the process, as claimed by the opposition parties and civil institutions. He ignored the signs of decline that surfaced in the economy. Inevitably, the Erdoğan’s victory would lead to more unrest and divisions between Turks and Kurds, Sunnis and Shi’ites, Secularists and Islamists. Certainly, it’s not a great outcome!”
Eight years later, the political scene in Turkey is experiencing grave and unprecedented turmoil.
Large sections of the Turkish population are taking to the streets to demonstrate their solidarity with the ousted and imprisoned Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul.
Here are excerpts from the news media, about the turmoil in Turkey:
“[Associated Press] Turkey makes 11 arrests over shopping-boycott campaign in support of Istanbul's imprisoned mayor.
“The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects in an investigation into ‘hatred and discrimination’ and ‘inciting hatred and hostility’ among the public, the Anadolu News Agency said.
“[ABC News] According to the independent ANKA News Agency, some 2,000 people have been detained since İmamoğlu was arrested on March 19, with 316 jailed pending trial.
“While in prison, İmamoğlu has been confirmed as the CHP’s presidential candidate. The next election is currently scheduled for 2028 but is likely to take place earlier. (CHP refers to the Peoples’ Republican Party)
“[Associated Press] The arrest and detention of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, last month has forced the cancellation of an international conference of Olympics officials and sports leaders due to take place in the city.”
Having quoted several sources about the events in Turkey, I must end by expressing my disappointment that several Western governments have remained silent about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's actions. The IOC deserves our gratitude for its brave and uncompromising stand!
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ON THE 1700 ANNIVERSARY OF THE NICENE CREED
March 31, 2025
The year 2025 marks the 1700th Anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of the Church and the adoption of the Nicene Creed.
The Council was convened by Emperor Constantine to resolve the controversy over the deity of Jesus Christ and establish a common creed for the Christian Church.
Growing up in the Levant, I memorized the Nicene Creed in Arabic. When I arrived in the United States in 1950, I learned the Apostles’ Creed, and its nearly exclusive use in worship services.
According to chistian.neti:
“The Apostles Creed is closely linked to the early Christian practice of baptismal confession. As new converts were baptized, they would affirm their faith by reciting the creed, thereby publicly declaring their adherence to the foundational doctrines of Christianity.”
Over the years, I have conducted worship services at Reformed Churches in the USA and Canada, where the Apostles’ Creed is always used.
The 1700 Anniversary of the Nicene Creed could be an opportunity to use this confession at a worship service.ii
Article 1: God the Father
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.”
Article 2: The Person of Christ.
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
Article 3: The Redemption accomplished by Christ.
“Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.”
Article 4: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
“And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets.”
Article 5: Doctrines related to our life.
“And we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
Unique features of the Nicene Creed:
In contrast with the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed refers to the Holy Scriptures regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Article 3); and the inspiration of the Prophets by the Holy Spirit (Article 4).iii
For more information on the Nicene Creed, I recommend a book by Jared Ortiz and Daniel Keating:iv
“Though the Nicene Creed is regularly recited in weekly church services, few understand its historical origins and connections to Scripture and key Christian doctrines. From a Roman Catholic perspective, The Nicene Creed: A Scriptural, Historical, and Theological Commentary bridges the gap, providing an accessible introduction that explains how the Creed is anchored in the Bible and how it came to be written and confessed in the early history of the church. Jared Ortiz and Daniel Keating show how the Creed reflects the purpose of God in salvation, especially in relation to Christians' divine adoption as sons and daughters, leading to glorification.
“With its roots deep in Scripture and the insights of the Church Fathers, this volume invites readers to join Christians throughout the centuries in reciting the deep theological truths that shaped their faith. Professors, students, clergy, and religious educators alike will benefit from this illuminating and edifying guide to the Nicene Creed.
“This volume helpfully includes sidebars in each chapter highlighting how the Creed has been received in the church's liturgy.”
Please, memorize the Nicene Creed and use it at church services.
i When Do We Say The Apostles Creed | Christian.net
ii nicene-creed.pdf (churchofengland.org)
iii The churches in the Levant include Apostles: “the Prophets and the Apostles”.
iv The Nicene Creed: A Scriptural, Historical, and Theological Commentary
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An Account of the Tragic History of Islamic Minorities
March 17, 2025
The year 2025 witnessed tragic events in the coastal part of Syria. On Thursday March 13, 2025, the Arabic BBC’s “Trending Program”i telecast the horrific news of an Alawite widow who witnessed the abduction and murder of her two sons and one grandson. She pleaded with the terrorists to shoot her rather than her loved ones. Her plea fell on deaf ears. Their utter depravity was evident as they videoed the event!
Televised news of the crime shattered several viewers. Here are excerpts from the comments of viewers:
“The mother’s infinite sorrow became an Icon in Syria and the Middle East.
“Just imagine the emotional shock from this experience! Over the years, she had witnessed their growing up, from toddlers to young boys, and completing their secondary education.
“The murderers’ place is in the lowest regions of hell!”
“The news about crime has spread all over the world. Surely God will punish the assassins.”
“We hoped that conditions in Syria would improve following the end of the Assads’ fifty years of oppressive rule. Alas, it doesn’t seem that what followed is any different.”
On March 14, 2025, more shocking details of the massacres in Northwest Syria were discussed on YouTube Channels. One cannot imagine how such events can go on day after day!
Looking back to the past, one discovers that troubles and dissensions have accompanied Islam from its birth in the seventh century. The difference is that nowadays, assassinations and ethnic-religious cleansing become known to the world via multiple means of mass communication. That did not exist in the past.
A View of the Early History of Islam
I turn to the work of a Tunisian scholar, Héla Ouardi, who has published books in French on the early years of Islam.ii In 2017, her book, Les Derniers Jours de Muhammad (The Last Days of Muhammad), was published in Paris, France. Here are translated excerpts that explain the causes of the early divisions and struggles after the Prophet’s passing in June 632 AD.
“Since the Qur’an is silent about the appointing of a successor to the Prophet, how did the idea of Khalifa come about? The institution of the Caliphate has a religious foundation in neither the Qur'an nor the Hadiths. The Prophet himself did not clearly designate a successor. The Shi’ites claim that the Prophet transmitted the torch to Ali; however, they refer to him as an Imam, who is more a spiritual guide than a political leader.
“The Caliphate was an ad hoc institution invented by the Companions of the Prophet when suddenly confronted by the absence of a power center. The Sunni-Shi’ite divide began with the assassination of Ali in 661, and it solidified around twenty years later when his son Hussein was assassinated with his entourage, in Karbala, Iraq. Professor Ouardi explains that the event had deep roots going all the way back to the days of Abu Bakr, in 632. While family members of the Prophet, Ali and Fatima, were busy with the funeral arrangements, followers of Abu Bakr and Omar announced the choice of Abu Bakr as Caliph. It was a fait accompli!
“By preventing the Prophet’s family from assuming the role of the Caliphate, the history of Islam has been punctuated by violent conflicts all committed in the name of religion. Thus, in Islam violence has become sacred, allowing some Muslims to perform horrific acts to bring them closer to God.”
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ii In 2017, Héla Ouardi is a Tunisian scholar, a French Literature and Civilization Professor at the University of Tunis, and an Associate Researcher at the CNRS Laboratory for Monographic Studies. She was General Manager of the Book at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Tunisia from September 2016 to January 2018. A Revised Version of Early Islamic History (academia.edu)
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A Western Scholar’s Exposition of Islam
March 12, 2025
There is a growing list of books on Islam and the Middle East.1 Dr. George Braswell’s work2 on the subject is of special value. For several years, he taught a course on Missions to Muslims at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
In the twelve chapters of his book, the author provides details about the origins of Islam, Muhammad's life and teachings, the spread of this monotheistic religion, the empires that advanced Islam's cause worldwide, the status of the Muslim world today, and the future of the relationship between the West and Islamic nations.
This book's unique features provide readers with the necessary information to become acquainted with Islam without overwhelming them with too many details. It quotes at length from the Qur’an and the Hadith, and it includes several charts dealing with Authority and Tradition in Islam, the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah, the Historical Development of the Sects of Islam, the Islamic Prayer, and Islam's Heartland.
Unlike many books on this subject that evade certain sensitive topics, Dr. Braswell is very concerned about Christian-Muslim relations both in the West and in the Household of Islam.
In chapter 11, he comments on "The Encounter Between Islam and Christianity,"
“Christianity needs to engage Islam about such topics as theocracy, the relationship of religion and government, the nature of religious pluralism in a society, and the provision of religious liberty and freedom of choice in religion. The way Islam answers these topics influences the missionary nature of Christianity, the sending of missionaries across cultures, the continuing relationship of Christianity and Islam, the freedom of individuals to choose their religion, and the protection provided citizens of a nation.
“Christianity in its encounter with Islam must raise the issue of religious liberty. On one hand the Qur'an states, "Let there be no compulsion in religion." (2:256) On the other hand it asserts, "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter, he will be among the ranks of the lost." (3:85)
“Within Islam, can Christianity stand alongside Islam and be granted the freedom of expression? Can a Muslim have the right to change his religion? and is an apostate punishable by death?”
There are statements in the book that require clarification. For example, this reference to India on page 35 is rather vague and misses the real subject:
“The recent history of India has seen partitions of lands resulting in an Islamic state and also much internal conflict within India.”
In fact, it was the leadership of India’s Muslims who requested the British to partition India in 1947, creating Pakistan as an Islamic state. The country consisted of two parts: the western section was populated by Punjabis, and 1000 miles to the east, the eastern section was inhabited mostly by Bengalis. Two decades later, the Bengalis revolted against the hegemony of West Pakistan and formed the Republic of Bangladesh.
On page 40, "the oil embargo against the West" is dated as having occurred "In the l960s." It happened during the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.
In the fifth chapter on Islamic Devotion, the transliterated Shahada3 Confession is rendered: "Ilaha Illa Allah. Muhammad rasul Allah." The Arabic particle "La” (No) is missing, making the confession meaningless.
When explaining the beginning of the Crusades (1099) on page 256, there is a reference to a "Turkish emir [who] took control of Jerusalem under the aegis of the Ottoman Empire" and "placed difficulties upon the Christian pilgrims."
The Emir who made it hard for the pilgrims belonged to the Seljuk Turks. The Ottoman Turks did not emerge on the horizon of history until around 1280, and their impact on the Middle East began in the early years of the 16th century.
These corrections are not to detract from the value of Professor Braswell's book. It is enriched by several features, such as a 10-page glossary of Arabic and Islamic terms. Any serious student of Islam will be enriched by studying this book.
1 This is an update to a blog post from May 5, 2023, and I reviewed Braswell’s book in the Calvin Theological Journal, Volume 32, No. 1, April 1997.
2 Islam: Its Prophet, Peoples, Politics and Power, by George W. Braswell, Jr., Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996. Pp. xii + 338.
3 Shahada is the declaration of faith in Islam. It is composed of two parts: “La ilaha illa-allah” (There is no god except Allah) and “Muhammad rasul Allah” (Muhammad is the messenger of Allah). Shahada is written in Arabic as “أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله” By saying the Shahada, a person enters Islam, and denying any part of it makes the person a non-Muslim. (This endnote is from an online Islamic source.)
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Reflections on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
February 21, 2025
In the aftermath of World War II, global powers made several changes to the world map. For example, parts of eastern Poland were incorporated into the USSR, and portions of eastern Germany were added to what remained of Poland. In 1946, Britain partitioned the Indian subcontinent into India, East Pakistan, and West Pakistan. This led to terrible upheaval and bloodshed. Many Muslims left India for the new Islamic state, while most Hindus who found themselves in what became Pakistan had to relocate and settle in India.
Eventually, almost all the reshaped and new nations learned to accept their neighbors’ existence and borders. Not so in the Middle East, where one situation has defied resolution: Palestinian Israeli coexistence.
In 1946, the United Nations decided to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The Palestinians and their Arab neighbors opposed the Partition Plan. On May 15, 1948, war broke out between the nascent Jewish state and its Arab neighbors. Since then, several wars have occurred between the antagonists. More than seven decades later, peace in the Holy Land remains elusive.
I have been aware of this unending crisis since my youngest days. One of my earliest recollections was a headline of a Beirut newspaper in 1936 that portrayed a Palestinian, Fawzi al-Qawuqji, leading a rebellion against the British administrators of the Holy Land. He opposed the influx of Jews into Palestine following the tide of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.
During the summers of 1943 and 1944, I worked in Syria and Lebanon at camps run by the British Army’s RASC (Royal Army Service Corps). My superior was a Jewish sergeant from Tel Aviv; the second-in-command was a Palestinian Christian corporal from Jerusalem, whose brother was a well-known singer on the radio station of the PBC (Palestine Broadcasting Corporation). Both worked together without apparent friction and used to talk about their aspirations and dreams for the future. Occasionally, I wonder what has happened to them since 1948.
I have lived in the United States since 1958, far away from the Middle East. Still, I cannot forget the Palestinian problem since I have interacted with many Palestinians throughout my career. In 1966, while traveling in the Middle East and meeting some of my listeners, I visited two elderly Palestinian Christian sisters who lived near the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem. At the time, it was in an area under the control of Jordan. Late in May 1967, I received an airmail from them, telling me about their fears as the war clouds gathered. Hostilities between Egypt and Israel were imminent. Having nowhere else to go, they planned to stay in their little home. After the end of the Six-Day War, I saw pictures of the awful devastation that took place near the place where the two sisters lived. I never heard from them again.
Then, in June 2001, I received a heart-rending message from a Palestinian Evangelical pastor in the West Bank. He told me of the sad incident that occurred as he and his family were on their way to Jerusalem to attend the graduation of one of their sons. At the checkpoint separating their town from East Jerusalem, the Israeli Army stopped their car. The pastor and his family were not allowed to proceed further. They missed that significant occasion in the life of their son.
Why has this problem persisted, defying all attempts to solve it by well-meaning world leaders? I have not stopped reading and reflecting on this subject. I am convinced that the problem lies in the attempt to isolate this problem from its larger context, which doesn’t just involve Palestinians and Israelis; it has to do with the Islamic concept of the world.
The Arab-Islamic worldview divides the world into Daru’l Islam (the Household of Islam) and Daru’l Harb (the Household of War). Once a specific area became part of the Household of Islam, it had to remain Islamic forever!
I can best explain this view by quoting from Bernard Lewis’s book, The Multiple Identities of the Middle East (published by Random House, NY, in 1998). This book offers an understanding of the people and politics of the Middle East. One of its main themes is that Middle Easterners identify themselves both ethnically and religiously. However, the religious element is and remains the dominant one. The root for this outlook is embedded in the history of the last 1400 years.
Within the vast Islamic empire, the conquerors classified people according to their religious affiliation. One was either a Muslim or a follower of one of the earlier religions. Muslims enjoyed all the rights and privileges accorded to them by the Islamic Shari’a Law. As for others, such as Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, they were given the status of dhimmis, i.e., the “protected ones.” This “protection” was actually a mere euphemism as it entailed many restrictions imposed on non-Muslims. Thus, one’s identity was not primarily defined by ethnic or geographic factors but by one’s religious faith. This classification continues to the present day. A Middle Easterner’s primary identity resides in his or her religious faith; secondarily, it is defined by the state within which he or she happens to live.
For example, on my Lebanese Identity Card, I was registered as a Protestant Christian. This way of identifying Middle Easterners creates a crisis whenever relations between the various religiously defined groups are strained. Quite often, Muslims, even though living within a distinct country such as Lebanon, felt that their ultimate identity (and therefore loyalty) resided elsewhere, within the Islamic Ummah (Islamic community). That kind of allegiance practically nullified the modus vivendi that had existed in Lebanon since the 1920s, and that led eventually to the loss of freedom in a land that used to be known as the Switzerland of the Middle East.
As Bernard Lewis put it:
“During the centuries-long confrontation between the states of Europe and the Ottoman Empire, the Europeans always saw and discussed their relations in terms of Austrians, Frenchmen, Germans, Englishmen, and other nationalities versus Turks; the Turks saw it in terms of Muslims versus Christians. In pre-modern Muslim writings, the parochial subdivisions of Christendom are given scant importance. In the worldview of Muslims, which they naturally also ascribed to others, religion was the determinant factor of identity, the focus of loyalty and, not less important, the source of authority.” P. 22
In these words, we notice how the religious factor is of utmost importance in our relations with the Middle East or any nations within the vast Islamic world that surrounds it. Secular Western writers tend to ignore the critical importance of religion in Islam and what constitutes a Muslim’s ultimate loyalty. They tend to forget the fact that, in contrast with Christianity, Islam is an amalgam of religion, politics, and culture in one indivisible entity. If this thesis is correct, and I believe that the history of the last 1400 years supports it, then why do some writers and politicians continue to ignore this fundamental fact about Islam? Islam is more than a religion and has maintained an exclusivist political worldview. It has no room for non-Muslim entities (i.e., states) to freely exist within the context of the Household of Islam.
Back to the book of Bernard Lewis:
“In the modern world, the political role of Islam, internationally as well as domestically, differs significantly from that of its peer and rival, Christianity. The heads of state or ministers of foreign affairs of the Scandinavian countries and Germany do not from time to time foregather in a Lutheran summit conference. Nor was it customary, when the Soviet Union still existed, for its rulers to join with those of Greece and Yugoslavia and, temporarily forgetting their political and ideological differences, to hold regular meetings on the basis of their current or previous adherence to the Orthodox Church. Similarly, the Buddhist nations of East and Southeast Asia, the Catholic nations of southern Europe and South America, do not constitute Buddhist or Catholic blocs at the United Nations, nor for that matter in any other political activities.
“The very idea of such a grouping, based on religious identity, might seem to many modern Western observers absurd or even comic. But it is neither absurd nor comic in relation to Islam. Some fifty-five Muslim governments, including monarchies and republics, conservatives and revolutionaries, practitioners of capitalism and disciples of various kinds of socialism, friends and enemies of the United States, and exponents of whole spectrum of shades of neutrality, have built an elaborate apparatus of international consultation and even, on some issues, of cooperation. They hold regular high-level conferences, and, despite differences of structure, ideology, and policy, have achieved a significant measure of agreement and common action.” P.26
In the Palestinian Israeli problem, we must recognize that the basic identity of a Palestinian Muslim is his religion. And since his religion has supplanted both Judaism and Christianity, neither of these faiths possesses any legitimate claim to the land of Palestine. The underlying problem is theological; thus, it remains radically different from all other international problems.
The secularized West cannot comprehend this basic religious motif for the Palestinians’ refusal to accept Israel as a valid political entity within the vast Islamic world. It is up to Christians to speak boldly about this subject and to point out to all parties in this conflict that genuine coexistence in our globalized world is a must. The continual refusal to accept the existence of Israel as a sovereign state leads to more violence and acts of terrorism that spill beyond the borders of the Holy Land.
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