Who Is Really Trying to ‘Wage a Fight Between the Cross and Crescent Again’?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan engaged in a bit of wild projection — a longtime favorite tactic of Muslims — over the weekend. According to one report:

Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party staged a massive pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul on Saturday that the Turkish leader said had drawn a crowd of 1.5 million.

He unleashed a scathing attack on Israel and its Western supporters after taking the stage with a microphone in his hand.

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And he accused Israel's allies of creating a "crusade war atmosphere" pitting Christians against Muslims.

At one point during his demagoguery, he tried to blame Israel for everything by accusing it of being a foreign occupier in the region: 

“Hey Israel, how did you come here [to the region]? How did you get in here? You’re an occupier!”

Now this is rich. After all, one can ask the very same questions of Turkey: “Hey Turkey, how did you come here?” 

(Honest) answer: “We Turks came from the East and brutally conquered Asia Minor, once an ancient Christian peninsula, littered with churches and monasteries. We slaughtered and enslaved millions of Christian infidels over the centuries (not an exaggeration) and destroyed tens of thousands of churches. Our handiest work came on May 29, 1453, when we sacked the ancient Christian city of Constantinople, where we committed unspeakable atrocities. Far from being remorseful, we — including our sultan, Erdogan — celebrate May 29 every year. Nor is our work over. We continue to persecute Christians — including in Cyprus, which we are illegally occupying, and the Armenians, our ancient genocide victims of old, through our Azerbaijani proxy.”

This, then, is the true history of the nation whose president is currently accusing Israel of being an “occupier.”

Erdogan’s hypocrisy does not end there. He also said, “The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West… The West, I am talking to you. Do you want to wage a fight between the Cross and the Crescent again? If you are making such an effort, know that this nation is not dead. Know that this nation is standing tall.”

This is ridiculous. Whatever goals “the West” may be accused of having in the region, trying to start a “fight” — a crusade — to uplift the Cross over the Crescent is certainly not one of them. The West’s leadership class hates Christianity and in every other context supports Muslims over Christians — including by flooding historically Christian lands in Europe with cross-hating Muslims. This is true even from a historical point of view: whereas Muslims like Erdogan are fond of reminiscing over the savage jihads of history, the West, as a rule, categorically denounces the crusades of history.

In short, here, too, Erdogan projects — for it is only he (and millions of other Muslims) who would love “to wage a fight between the Cross and the Crescent again,” though now is not the right time: Muslims are still militarily and economically weaker than the West.