Clashes in
Ankara’s Yenimahalle
In the News: Late on July
2, Turkish residents and Syrian refugee residents of the neighborhood engaged
in clashes leaving one person injured. Workplaces belonging to Syrian refugees
and Iraqi Turkmens were damaged, Hürriyet reported.
Why is this important to
the Balkans? Turkey is important to the Balkans because it occupied parts of
the peninsula for centuries, therefore having an influence on the Balkan
peoples.
Article: Deputy PM calls for ‘tolerance’ toward
Syrian refugees amid rising tension
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak has made a call for
public tolerance following clashes between different ethnic groups in Ankara’s
Yenimahalle district.
“We have seen a
social reaction against Syrians lately. Of course, there are some among the 3
million of them who may have committed crime. But the crime rate of Syrians is
lower than that of our own citizens,” Kaynak told daily Hürriyet on July 4.
“If there are
safe zones in Syria, they will go back to their own lands,” Kaynak said, adding
that he recognized.
“The argument
that ‘our soldiers are going to Syria and getting killed while Syrians are here
safely’ is correct but insufficient. People between the ages of 20 and 45 can
serve during a war but not all are warriors. In order for them to be warriors,
they must be armed and educated accordingly. It is both not right and not
possible for Turkey to do that alone,” he said.
“Turkey is
approaching the issue solely from a humanitarian perspective. There are
1,200,000 helpless Syrian women in Turkey. We cannot ignore them,” Kaynak
added. Read full article at: http://www.balkaneu.com/deputy-pm-calls-for-tolerance-toward-syrian-refugees-amid-rising-tension/
Jerry’s
commentary:
I agree with this deputy. This
has been my argument concerning the Syrian/Iraqi refugees; that they should be
trained and equipped to go back and take their home lands back. Therefore, I
believe Turkey is positioned to be the place for assembling the refugees and
preparing them for invasion. The western nations (NATO) can then step up and
finance this effort. Russia should also be incorporated in supporting this
also.
With western nations
involved in this training and equipping, Turkey would not be in sole control of
the process. Each participating country should be in agreement because they are
only contributing money, arms and military advisers, not men in the battle.
Now from a Kingdom
perspective:
Many of the fleeing
Syrians and Iraqis are Christians. Either they are from the sparsely ancestral
Christian inhabitants of Syria or they are newly converted Christians. (There
are untold/unpublished stories of many refugees coming to Jesus) Not only
Christians but people are fleeing because of the personal danger, economic
breakdown and the discontent with Islam.
This situation has opened
a door for the Church to evangelize. The Church should expand resources to
plant missionaries among these refugees.
Does this create a holy
war? Another Christian Crusade? Not necessarily, but that is a discussion that
can be explored.
Prayer Points:
1) The Christian’s greatest weapon is prayer. Let us pray
for the Lord to fight for the refugees.
2) Pray that the conversion of Syrians and Iraqis would
continue with even greater momentum.
3) Pray that the Church would seize this opportunity to
evangelize the refugees.
4) (There are undercover Christian groups operating in
Syria and Iraq to bring the gospel) Pray that these people putting lives in
danger will be protected and be led by the Spirit.
