Turkey Wants to Revive Ottoman Empire

Revelation 13:3a, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed …”

By Sergei Balmasov – “A hundred years after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey is re-emerging on the international arena. Furthermore, it intends to regain the ground lost in the 19th-20th centuries, which is a direct threat to the interests of all the neighboring countries, including Russia.
 Consider the actions of the Turkish leadership during the past weeks that have caused serious concerns in Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the EU.

Particularly noteworthy are the frictions of Ankara and Tel Aviv, which raise questions about preservation of the Alliance between the two. The Turkish leadership provides a strong support to the Palestinians, and threatened to appeal to the international authorities with a demand to monitor the Israeli nuclear program and promised to prevent the development of Israeli-rich gas fields in the Mediterranean.

Finally, a serious concern in Israel was caused by the fact that on September 7, Turkey announced its intention to sign an important military agreement with Egypt during a corresponding visit of the Turkish government. Of course, this is a historic day in the history of the entire Middle East. Given the sharp rise in anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey and in Egypt, as well as the ongoing processes of evolution of power in several North African countries, the concerns of Israelis about the activity of Ankara on the Egyptian direction are quite understandable.
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Report: Erdogan plans to visit Iran – “Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he plans to pay a visit to Iran in the near future, according to Turkish media. Erdogan made the announcement in an interview with reporters in Tunisia on Thursday. Erdogan’s visit to Tehran will be important because Turkey has agreed to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s missile defense system, which is ostensibly meant to counter an alleged ballistic missile threat from Iran. Tehran has expressed disapproval of the decision.” Read more.

Iran FM: Arab Spring heralds emergence of Islamic Middle East – “Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi on Sunday told a conference in Tehran that the Arab Spring is heralding the emergence of an Islamic Middle East, PressTV reported. Speaking at a conference on ‘Islamic Awakening,’ the Iranian foreign minister attributed the developments in the Arab world to ‘the unhealthy and oppressive relations between certain governments and their nations’ in recent decades.” Read more.

Turkey Predicts Alliance With Egypt as Regional Anchors – “A newly assertive Turkey offered on Sunday a vision of a starkly realigned Middle East, where the country’s former allies in Syria and Israel fall into deeper isolation, and a burgeoning alliance with Egypt underpins a new order in a region roiled by revolt and revolution. The portrait was described by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey in an hourlong interview before he was to leave for the United Nations, where a contentious debate was expected this week over a Palestinian bid for recognition as a state.” Read more.

Tricky New Superbug Making Inroads in Canada

TORONTO — A Montreal hospital has been battling for the last year to extinguish an outbreak with a worrisome and highly drug-resistant bacteria.

The outbreak at the Jewish General is the first in Canada caused by this strain of the bacteria, a bug that has sparked serious concern because of how easily it spreads and its ability to transfer resistance to other bacteria.

A report on the outbreak was presented in Chicago on Sunday to the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a major annual gathering of infectious diseases specialists.

Dr. Mark Miller, head of infection control at the Jewish General, said the outbreak has been brought under control, but a few patients with the bacteria are still being treated in the hospital.

The outbreak was caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is normally found in the human intestine. In healthy people, these bacteria can live in the intestine without causing illness. In hospitals, however, they can cause a range of infections, including pneumonia, bloodstream infections and urinary tract infections.

Klebsiella pneumoniae traditionally have been treated with antibiotics called carbepenems. But in the last decade or so, a strain of the bacteria has developed that is resistant to this class of drugs. To make matters worse, the genetic component that gives Klebsiella pneumoniae this resistance has the capacity to transfer into other bacteria, making them resistant to these drugs as well.

The strain with this component is called KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, and it has even more tricks in its arsenal. The gene that makes it resistant to carbepenems is packaged in a cassette of genes that confer resistance to a number of other antibiotics.” Read more.

Au Revoir: Islam Set to Become Dominant Religion in France

By David Kerr – “New research suggests there are now more practising Muslims in France than practising Catholics.

While 64 percent of French people describe themselves as Roman Catholic, only 2.9 percent of the population actually practice the Catholic faith. That compares to 3.8 percent of the population who practice the Muslim faith. The research was carried out by the French Institute of Public Opinion on behalf of the Catholic newspaper La Croix.

More worrying for Islamic authorities in France is the finding that only 41 percent of the country’s 6 million Muslims actually describe themselves as ‘practising,’ although 75 percent are happy to label themselves ‘believers.’ Seventy-percent also claim to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Most French Muslims hail from the country’s former colonies in North and sub-Saharan Africa.

There is also further evidence that mosques are being erected at a much faster rate than Catholic churches. Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Muslim Council of France, last month estimated that 150 new mosques are currently under construction across the country.

By contrast, the Catholic Church in France has built only 20 new churches during the past decade, and has formally closed more than 60 churches. Many of these are now destined to become mosques, according to La Croix.

Research in 2009 by the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research suggested that nearly 500 new mosques were built between 2001 and 2006, taking the present total to over 2,000. Many of these new buildings, however, were erected to re-accommodate local Islamic communities who had previously been using temporary accommodation – the so-called ‘Islam of the basements.’

One of France’s most prominent Muslim leaders, Dalil Boubakeur, who is the head of the Grand Mosque of Paris, recently called for the number of mosques in the country to be doubled again – to 4,000 – to meet growing demand.” Read more.

Palestinians Warn Obama Not to Stand in Way of Statehood, Will Still Demand ‘Uniting for Peace’ Resolution Enforcement

“The Palestinian Authority knows all the right buttons to push with Washington. The Palestinian leadership is fully aware of the value US President Barack Obama (like his predecessors) puts on overseeing an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and has regularly wielding that weakness like a diplomatic bludgeon against the White House.

On Saturday, the Palestinians were at it again, warning the Obama Administration that vetoing their UN Security Council bid for statehood would ‘destroy’ the two-state solution to the conflict.

‘Anyone who supports the two-state solution should back the Palestinian effort [at the UN],’ insisted chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Senior PLO official Zakariya al-Agha followed up by reminding Obama that in September of 2010 he promised that a Palestinian state would be established in one year.

The warnings cames just hours after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas confirmed in a speech in Ramallah that on Friday, September 23 he will address the UN General Assembly, after which he will submit to the Security Council an official application for UN membership for ‘Palestine.’

The Obama White House has repeatedly stated that it will veto the motion, with Obama himself going so far as to call the Palestinian stunt a ‘distraction.'” Read more.

Flashback: PA will demand enforcement of General Assembly ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution even if US vetoes – “PLO official Saeb Erekat has said Palestinians would activate UN resolution 377 if faced with a US veto in September. The ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution states that if the Security Council fails to act to maintain world peace and security, the General Assembly should consider the matter in an emergency session. The session can be called at the request of seven members of the Security Council or by a majority of UN member states. Following a widespread diplomatic campaign, some 112 countries have recognized Palestine as an independent state and more are expected to do so in coming weeks. Palestinians would need the support of 129 countries to implement Resolution 377 and secure a General Assembly vote on UN membership.” Read more.

At Least 74 Now Reported Killed After Powerful 6.9 Earthquake Strikes Northeastern India and Nepal

Richter Magnitude 6.9 – SIKKIM, INDIA
Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 06:10:48 PM
27.723°N, 88.064°E
Depth: 19.7 km (12.2 miles)

“Rescuers battled heavy rains and cleared dozens of landslides while making their way to Sikkim, the ground zero of Sunday evening’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake that has so far claimed 74 lives across three countries – India, Nepal and China (Tibet). According to late-night reports, at least 58 people were killed and hundreds injured in Sikkim, Bengal and Bihar, in addition to nine deaths in Nepal and seven in Tibet. The toll is likely to rise, say rescuers. In Sikkim, the toll had reached 41. The maximum casualties have been in Rangpo, Dikchu, Singtam and Chungthang in north Sikkim. Ten persons have died in Bengal and seven in Bihar.” Read more.