TURKEY: Where East Meets West

Will this be the battleground between Catholicism and Islam? 

Turkey may become a strategic battleground between “Christendom” and Islam. Since the days of King Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire, the term “Christendom” has applied mostly to Europe. The historical relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Europe is undeniable. 

That symbiotic relationship epitomizes the iron and clay kingdom (European politics and Catholic religion) that the prophet Daniel wrote about in Daniel 2:41-42. 

It is the empire that will produce the Antichrist and the False Prophet of Revelation 13. That kingdom will be crushed by Jesus Christ at His second coming. 

Adolf Hitler wanted to create a united Europe under his Nazi control, but his “Third Reich” was defeated in World War II. 

Then, in 1946, Winston Churchill called for a “United States of Europe.” Consensus began to grow, and Europe set out to rebuild. 

Six nations signed the Treaty of Paris in 1952, forming the European Coal and Steel Community. 

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, which became the European Community, and then the European Union (under the Maastricht Treaty of 1993). 

The European Union has aggressively expanded since that time, to a present membership of 27 nations. 

According to Wikipedia, the basic requirements for accession to the EU are “secular, democratic government, rule of law and corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the EU Treaty, each current member state and also the European Parliament have to agree to any enlargement.” 

The EU is the love-child of the Roman Catholic Church, but Turkey is Orthodox and Muslim - NOT a good match. 

Turkey's government has been secular, and imposes strict restraints on religion. But the forces of Islam yearn to impose Sharia law, and may eventually achieve that goal. Some Muslims would love to have access to EU politics and economic participation. 

One of the most powerful Muslims in the world is little-known to Westerners. He is a Turkish academian named Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and he is the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), comprised of 57 Islamic nations. This is the most powerful Muslim organization in the world, whose mission is to advance the cause of Islam world-wide and to totally eradicate "Islamaphobia" within a ten-year plan. 

If Turkey is allowed to join the EU, it could bring enormous political and economic gains for the entire Islamic world. But Turkey's accession could prove detrimental, if not deadly, to Catholic influences in the EU. 

A British Catholic, Cardinal Murphy-O’Conner (Archbishop of Westminster) strongly objects to the integration of a Muslim nation of 70 million people into a “continent that is, fundamentally, Christian.” 

Meanwhile, the “Islamization” of Turkey is taking place. Turks fear that their Islamic identity could be lost through EU accession. Ali Agca, the man who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, recently warned Pope Benedict not to come into Turkey, citing anti-Catholic sentiment among Muslims. 

Perhaps one of the most ominous facts about Turkey is the presence of the Eyab Mosque in Istanbul. It is the repository (museum) which contains the ancient artifacts of the Prophet Mohammed. Numerous significant items are held in sacred trust there, including the green sword and green "Flag of the Prophet." Please see my article about The Green Horse, which tells the details and prophetic significance of these items. 

Muslims around the world revere the Eyab Mosque, and in the event of a world-wide conflagration between Islam and the West, the final call to global war is likely to come from the Imam of Istanbul. This is perhaps one of the most critical facts to be considered about Turkey's international role in the future. 

The Sixth Trumpet prophecy of Revelation depicts a global war breaking out in the region of the Euphrates River, which originates in Turkey, and flows through Syria and Iraq. One-third of mankind is prophesied to die in that horrible war. 

Turkey could become a key participant in the Sixth Trumpet War or at Armageddon. 

Turkey controls the Ataturk Dam, which could cut off the flow of the Euphrates, fulfilling Revelation 16:12, preparing the way for the kings of the East to the battle of Armageddon. 

Will Turkey join the west, become more secular, lose its Islamic identity, and avoid the “clash of civilizations,” or will it throw the brakes on and revert to a radical Islamic society, and become a player at Armageddon? 

Keep an eye on it. The future of the world could be dramatically affected by it.