By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, BIN—
A recent study by a Middle East analysis organization based in Washington DC revealed that the Turkish president’s call for 57 nations to join together to form an anti-Israel army of Islam could create the most formidable military force on the planet. One Israeli expert on Islam stated emphatically, “make no mistake; this is war,” and lest the message is missed, he also emphasized that this call for jihad includes a direct threat against the US.
A report on Wednesday by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) investigated an article that was published in December in the Turkish daily Yeni Şafak, a media outlet which is closely affiliated with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party. The article titled, “A Call for Urgent Action,” which also appeared on the paper’s website under the title, “What If an Army of Islam Was Formed against Israel?” called on the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to form a joint “Army of Islam” to besiege and attack the state of Israel. The article went into specifics, describing in detail how such an army would overwhelm the Jewish State.
Once warm, relations between Turkey and Israel have been shaky in the last decade. But this call for a religious war against Israel is a relatively new development. The political differences between the two countries took on global religious overtones last May when Erdogan called for Muslims to flood the Temple Mount.
“Each day that Jerusalem is under occupation is an insult to us,” Erdogan had said from the International Forum on al-Quds Waqf in Istanbul.