I swear Erdogan is like the worst ally of the West, and also quite possibly the anti-Christ. In today’s edition of “what’s the latest wacky thing Erdogan said,” he’s bashing Saudi Arabia for their recent attempts to moderate the more extremist elements of their religion.
From Russia Today:
The idea of ‘moderate Islam’ was invented by the West and is being used to weaken the ancient religion, Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan has said in reference to Saudi Arabia’s reforms, while also lashing out at the EU’s “discrimination” of Muslims.
Last month, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, vowed to restore “moderate” Islam to the kingdom considered to be “home” of the religion. The Gulf monarchy currently follows a Salafist or Wahhabi version of Islam that is often described as being “ultraconservative” and administered through Islamic Sharia law. In what appears to be a direct reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Erdogan denounced a “moderate” interpretation of Islam in a speech delivered at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Women’s Advisory Council on Friday.
“The term ‘moderate Islam’ is being lathered up again. The patent of moderate Islam belongs to the West. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam; Islam is one. The aim of using such terms is to weaken Islam,” Erdogan said in Ankara.
It’s pretty bad reasoning to pretend that there aren’t more moderate and more extremist versions of Islam – isn’t then Erdogan conceding that the most extremist elements of Islam all the same as his brand? This is more about politics than it is religion, but it’s alarming to see Erdogan continue to be so belligerent…