There has been a buzz on the internet about the implications of Erdoğan visiting Putin a few days ago, and mending relations. What does it mean for developments in the end times?
Erdoğan and Putin meet August 9 in St. Petersburg.
This author says, “Very little.” This news article from the BBC gets to the root of the matter. Putin is quoted as saying,
“The priority is to get back to the pre-crisis level of co-operation.”
And that’s exactly all there is to it. Remember, the Turks and Russians have been bitter enemies for 500 years. For two centuries prior to Catherine the Great’s conquest of Crimea in 1784, the Turks were in cahoots with slave traders who kidnapped Russians in the Ukraine and sold them into slavery throughout the Muslim realm. The total number of people taken was two-thirds as great as the African slave trade across the Atlantic. This kind of history is not easily forgotten. In fact, this is likely part of the reason why Russia has made such good friends with Iran.
So the Turks shot down a Russian plane that crossed Turkish airspace recently. That was the crisis. Relations were frosty after that. Turkey was not getting Russian natural gas. Relations were normalized in order to restore trade. Russia wanted that too per Putin’s statement above. That’s it.
But I also can’t help but think that Erdoğan made this move in order to placate Russia in order to continue his war with Assad, the Kurds and because of his imperialistic desires in the region. After all, the best candidate for the Third Signpost’s prominent horn of the goat should be a good politician.
Categories: In The News, Signpost #3: Four Nations
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
Really wondering in squashing the coup, that it has hurt his ties to the West that he needs a new ally that has similar sentiments toward the West that he has. Energy (oil) prices have been unstable and hurts them both. I heard also that Iran has been in contact with them and that that are ready to deal with ISIS.
Gary,
The “coup” has definitely hurt Turkey’s ties with the west. But it won’t matter. In the Third Signpost, if he is indeed the candidate for the goat’s first horn, he will conquer most of the Middle East.
Here is something to ponder – is Persia starting it’s westward thrust with a little help from some friends ???
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-16/first-time-russian-strategic-bombers-strike-isis-irans-hamadan-air-base
Very good, Steve.
even more perplexing information….. assuming any of this news is real……
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/16/us-officials-up-to-100000-iran-backed-fighters-now-in-iraq.html
Indeed good, Steve! The Saudi’s share your concern completely:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/08/18/The-shock-of-a-Russian-base-in-Iran.html
The Russian-Iranian alliance is already fifteen years in the making, and the article concludes with: “The aim of the game and its conclusion may be bigger than what we see today.”
And it is not “just” Russia; a Chinese top-admiral is visiting Syria:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/08/18/Chinese-admiral-visits-Syria-in-show-of-support.html
“The Chinese military is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts (…) Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns”
If NATO supports Turkey, and Russia and China support Iran/Syria, the second signpost may not just be confined to the Middle East. More proxy wars between East & West may develop, plus constant fear, tension and readiness for an all out confrontation, even if that does not actually happen. Peace taken from the world indeed…
I enjoy the present peaceful situation as long as it lasts, and pray I will be given peace of mind when peace is taken from the world.
this oughta throw another chink in the chain …
https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/us-moves-nuclear-weapons-from-turkey-to-romania/
Laura,
This is actually some good news.
just had a thought –
Daniel 11:44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many.
To the north of Turkey is Russia & to east of most Islamic countries is China. If Iran attacks the middle east, as we expect them to, Russia will most likely sit back and keep quiet trying to avoid any conflicts.
“he” will set out to destroy many – who are the “many” he tries to destroy ?? “he” may turn all his anger against the countries directly near him that he can easily destroy. Could Turkey even get to China at all – it’s on the other side of the Himalayan mountains thousands of miles away. I hardly doubt that Turkey is going to overrun Russia & China – the US wouldn’t be able to do that using conventional weapons.
So how is “he” going to “destroy & annihilate” Russia & China at all – with what weapons – “he” would need multiple ICBM’s to have any chance at all. Those two countries would retaliate with nuclear weapons in about three blinks of an eye.
Is my thinking wrong ??.
Steve,
That particular verse you quote, I believe, refers to a time in the thick of the last 42 months known as the Great Tribulation. He has already conquered the nearby countries and made his empire (the Fourth Signpost). That verse is likely referring to the AC and Islamic Realm having to face that 200m man army coming from China.
Interesting too is that the only political sphere capable of challenging the AC in either Daniel or Revelation is China, and its oil supplier (Russia). As far as nukes go, that is a detail and I believe too far off to be concerned with.
Besides, if the pre-Trib Rapture theory is correct why worry about those last years.
Pull up Google maps and ask it to map a route from ANY point inside of China to Israel. Now break out Microsoft Excel and start calculating how many double stacked buses or 747 planes or trucks or jumbo cruise ships it would take to move 200 million people 4,000 miles – just for fun double the number of people that can fit into one vehicle. Now start to calculate how long it would take to move those people WITH food, water, weapons & ammo. Now sit back and realize that China can not be the nation with the 200 million man army – they are too far away..
Steve,
The Bible says they travel on the ground. And that they kill one third of mankind which so happens to be the population of Vietnam through to Iraq. The Bible says 200 million show up and cross the Euphrates. They have to come from somewhere.
Yes I firmly believe that this army will come against Isreal from the east by land. Look at this population map of the middle east ( http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?v=21&r=me&l=en ) and you could easily get 200+ million people from the countries to the east of the Euphrates. I’m completely convinced the 200 million man army will be Islamic from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and those countries….
The army of the Kings of the East is 200,000,000 man cavalry – on horseback and/or motorized. It is the Sixth Trumpet – after the fourth signpost. This may be pretty far in the future as of yet, and we do not know what the political situation in east and south Asia exactly will be by then.
What we do know is that at present:
– China has a militant Muslim minority in its North-West: Xinjiang. They are the Uyghurs, a Turkish people. The region in the past was called East-Turkestan. Half of the people there are Chinese, the other half, about 11 million, are Muslims.
– India has a Muslim minority of 14% of its population: 172 million
– East of India is Bangladesh: 90% of its population is Muslim: 149 million
– Malaysia has 61% Muslims: 61 million
– Last but not least: Indonesia has 87% Muslims: 203 million.
Because all this is far from the Middle East, biblical prophecy is silent about what happens there. Yet I think it plausible that when Islam goes on awakening more worldwide, all these Asian regions will be infected too, with more extremism and terrorism. And when the Beast Empire & Beast King are finally there, China and India will have very big trouble with their Muslim minorities – and the whole region will have great trouble with Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
All this will take time: three more signposts and five Trumpets. The governments in the region will see it coming and happening, and can prepare and react by increasing their militaries and enlarging them with paramilitary and/or irregular troops. More and more if the threat of Asian Muslims increases. And who says the army of China will be the only one that contributes to the army of the “Kings of the East”? The expression is plural.
If you add up active + reserve + paramilitary of both Korea’s, Vietnam, India, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Burma and Singapore you have even today already over 31 million soldiers. Now imagine they adopt the modern-day warfare tactics that Russia and Iran already use, training the cadre of regular troops to simultaneously lead regular and irregular troops, you can reach the number by adding six persons for every soldier of these 31 million.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel
Now this becomes total speculation, but it is a possibility: several Asian nations may feel forced to unite against the Muslim threat in their region, and within their own borders. They then manage to defeat the followers of the Beast in their region, either reactively or pre-emptively. This will be at the cost of enormous casualties on both sides. And finally they take on the heart of the Beast Empire.
The number of victims in all this together then being 1/3 of the world population – over 2.5 billion people. Nuclear exchanges may by then have “helped” to get to this number. China and India have nukes, and the Beast may have the nukes of Pakistan.
And who knows how long this can take – the formation and final assault of the Kings of the East after they have secured what is left of their home region may take a year.