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Jul 31, 2020

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is flexingdiplomatic and military muscle in Libya to bring about a cease-fire and a new round of peace talks.

While Libya is the battlefield, there is a larger regional contest shaping up in the standoff between Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who, it seems, is unimpressed by the Egyptian presidents red lines and threat of force.

It will therefore likely be up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, rather than Sisi or anyone else, to prevent an escalation.

"Time is not on our side"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in July described conditions in Libya as "gloomy," adding that "time is not on our side."He expressed concern about foreign interference in the war, the 400,000 Libyans displaced by the conflict, and the spike in COVID-19 cases.A UN report this week detailed the scale of civilian deaths attributed to the conflict over the past month.

The World Bank had designated Libya at risk of endemic poverty as a fragile state experiencing high intensity conflict, and that was before the pandemic.

Red lines get blurry

Egypt backs Khalifa Hifter, a military strongman whose forces have been rapidly losing ground to the Libyan Government of National Accordthanks to Turkeys military intervention on the government side.Among those on the side of theGovernment of National Accord are thousands of jihadifighters shipped in from Syria, as Amberin Zaman reports.

Libya has become one of the Middle Easts regional fault lines, with Egypt, the United Arab Emiratesand Saudi Arabia on one side, and Turkey and Qatar on the other, as Gilles Kepel explained in a recent podcast.

Turkey and Qatar are considered supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the others consider a terrorist group.

Russia and France also back Hifter, and Erdogan has been at odds with NATO ally French President Emmanuel Macron over differences over Libya, as Ayla Jean Yackley and Bryant Harris report.

The United Nations recognizes the Government of National Accord, so Erdogan believes he has international legitimacy on his side.

If this all seems very 1914, even worse are the random acts that can escalate things.

Hagar Hosny writes that some in Egypt speculate that a recent terrorist attack by Islamic State-linked terrorists in Egypts Sinai is connected to Sisis decision to intervene in Libya.In other words, the fight in Libya is about containing Islamist and Brotherhood affiliated groups in Egypt and elsewhere in the region.

On July 20, Sisisaid a parliamentary resolution that day approving combat missions outside the countrys border had provided Egypts intervention in Libya international legitimacy if it decides to deploy.

Hifter has support among tribes in northeast Libya, where the oil fields are located.Sisi declared any move by the government to take Sirte, the hometown of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi and gateway to the fields, as a red line for Egypt. Sisi also has called for further arming of Libyan tribes in the region to hold off the Turkish-backed government offensive.

Does Erdogan think Sisi is bluffing?

With Hifter on defense, Sisi has also proposed a cease-fire and a new round of political talks in conjunction with his threat of military force, although the initiative may be dead on arrival, from Turkeys perspective.

Erdogan is loath to grant a seat at the table to Hifter, and may not take Sisis warning about the use of force seriously, Metin Gurcan writes.

Sisi may be eager for an intervention, hoping to boost his popularity in the Arab world and sustain the UAEs financial backing, but Ankara doubts the Egyptian military shares his eagerness, writes Gurcan.According to Turkish assessments, Egypts military would be reluctant to engage in a cross-border campaign with ambiguous military goals and risk losses that might damage its credibility and fuel internal rifts.

The Turkish assessment is that Algeria and Tunisia would see Egyptian intervention as an unwanted escalation, as Simon Speakman Cordall explains, and that the United Statesand Russia, both close allies of Egypt, would advise against it.

Did Putin get Erdogan to cave?

Cengiz Candar writes that while a joint statement July 22 from Turkey and Russia backed diplomacy in Libya, that may not mean much because Erdogan feels he has the upper hand with Egypt and Hifter.

Turkey committed itself, upon Russian demand, to refrain from going to war forSirteand al-Jufra. Also, the reference to intra-Libyan political dialogue might be interpreted as Turkey, albeit implicitly, concedingto accepting Hifter as a party in the peace process, given the Libyan leader was also present at theBerlin Conference, Candar explains.

Nonetheless, Candar concludes, All those who have faith in Erdogan's Libyan policy, which is now contained by Russia, can count on the inconsistency of Turkey's president. There is nothing permanent for Erdogan. Hence, although a war with Egypt that could have erupted due to his miscalculation is averted forthe time being, one can never know what the near future might bring.

SemihIdiz writes that Erdogans personal relationships with both Putin and Trump have strengthened Ankaras hand and averted serious crises, which could even have escalated into direct military confrontations between Turkish and US/Russian forces, most notably in Syria adding,Ankara has also not held back from using its ties with Moscow and Washington against these powers, depending on the occasion.

Can the United States and Russia stave off further crisis?

Libya is a collapsed state in conflict, a battlefield for regional powers since the overthrow of Gadhafi in 2011.And like Syria and Yemen, Libyas fate is not ultimately in Libyas hands.

The Libyan conflict is, regrettably, on a path of "Syrianization,"as Fehim Tastekin called it, the result of the jihadis shipped there by Turkey to fight on behalf of the Libyan government against Hifter.

As in Syria, Putin and Erdogan find themselves at odds but willing to talk it out.

And as in Syria, Putin is working all angles, not only with Erdogan and Sisi, but also with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (known as MBZ) and others, asSamuel Ramani writes.

And that brings us to Trump, who has been actively engaged in his own summit-level diplomacy with Sisi, Erdogan, MBZ, Macronand Putin.All operate by personal connection and the action moves when they talk.Libya is a matter of war and peace, and the United Statescan further seize the roles as invaluable mediator. The risks of escalation remain high, but the tele-diplomacy has the potential to energize the UN Security Council especially if Trump, Putin and Macron get on the same page for an active role in bringing an overdue reprieve to the Libyan people.

More:
Does Erdogan think Sisi is bluffing in Libya? - Al-Monitor

If Bashar al-Assad was the only figure able to take advantage of Recep Tayyip Erdogans reconversion of Saint Sophia into a mosque after a mere 85 years as a museum, something must be very wrong with the worlds reaction to the Turkish presidents latest political shenanigans.

After Erdogan restored the almost 1,500-year old structure designed by its Christian builders to recreate the Temple of Solomon to the status of a fully prayed-in, fully functioning, fully muezzined place of worship for Turkeys Muslim majority, the Americans expressed their disappointment, the EU and Unesco their regret and the Pope his deep sadness.

Inevitably, only the Orthodox church rumbled on about this threat to the whole of Christian civilisation though it has been tolling its misery about the loss of the church ever since the Muslims conquered Byzantium in the 15th century. In the Middle East, history lasts a long time.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

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Erdogan has deep faith in his strategy of politics cloaked by religion | Robert Fisk - The Independent

AZAZ HAS experienced quite the turnaround. The city in northern Syria was once controlled by Islamic State (IS), which continued to terrorise it even after leaving in 2014. That is when other jihadists and rebels swooped in. Today, though, Turkey is calling the shots. It keeps the lights on and supplies the local shops. The list of Turkish projects under construction ranges from schools and universities to hospitals and roads. The infrastructure is better than before the revolution, says an architect who is building new housing as part of another Turkish project.

Turkey is expanding its footprint across the Arab world, using force more than diplomacy. In the past year it has occupied north-eastern Syria, punched deep into Iraq and intervened in Libyas civil war. Its military spending has increased by nearly half since 2016.

Yet Turkeys strongman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, does not appear to have an all-encompassing vision for the region. Rather he is pursuing Turkeys economic interests and dealing with perceived threatssometimes by violating the borders of other countries. Thus is he fulfilling a promise made four years ago to go and confront [problems] wherever they nest.

Turkey is no newcomer to the Middle East. Its predecessor, the Ottoman empire, ruled the region for 500 years, until European powers rolled it back. More recently it has exerted cultural and economic influence, especially through Turkish soap operas and construction projects. After the Arab spring of 2011 brought Islamist movements to the fore, Mr Erdogan promoted Turkey as a model of Islamist governanceand himself as leader of the Muslim world. As the Islamists were pushed back (or crushed) and Western powers lost interest in the region, Turkey grew more assertive.

Start in Syria, where Turkey has long backed the rebels trying to topple Bashar al-Assads regime. They have all but lost, but Turkey continues to protect the areas still under their control in the north-west. It does not want another flood of refugees to cross its border, so it has tried to stabilise the regionfurther digging in. It trains police, funds a civil service and has replaced the Syrian pound with the steadier Turkish lira. In cities such as Azaz it is building rapidly. Backers of Mr Erdogan suggest that this is an investment for the long run.

Turkey has been even bolder in the part of northern Syria once controlled by the main local Kurdish force, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). The YPG grabbed a large swathe of territory while helping America defeat IS. But the YPG has close ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a separatist Kurdish group in Turkey. So when America pulled out in October, Turkish troops moved in, backed by local Arab rebels. Together they pushed the Kurds out of much of their statelet. Turkey now occupies a 30km-deep strip in Syria extending for 145km along their border.

Mr Erdogan is also battling the PKK in the Kurds autonomous region in northern Iraq. Turkey says it has neutralised over 1,400 Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria this year. Sometimes the Turks have attacked 200km inside Iraq. They insist it is a short-term operation aimed only at the PKK, but they have set up a number of new outposts in the country. Many suspect their aim is to carve out a buffer zone along the border, as they did in Syria. Iraqs Kurds fear a Turkish presence would endanger their aspirations for statehood and, if it extends far enough, cut them off from the Kurds in Syria.

Turkeys intervention in Libya is different. The countries of the eastern Mediterranean have long argued over who controls which part of the seaand the gasfields beneath it. Mr Erdogan feared that an alliance of Egypt, Israel, Greece and Cyprus might squeeze Turkey out of the area. So last year he signed a deal with Libyas UN-backed government that demarcated their maritime boundaries and supposedly gave Turkey the right to drill in waters off Greek islands. (Greece is having none of it.) In return Turkey has provided troops, arms, drones and mercenaries (from Syria) to the Libyan government and its allied militias, tipping the war in their favour. Earlier this year the forces of Khalifa Haftar, a rebellious Libyan general, were pushed out of western Libya.

Turkey is now a force to be reckoned with along a 600-km stretch of the Mediterranean. It controls an airbase in al-Watiya, close to Libyas border with Tunisia. Its frigates protect Libyas coast in the west. Some say Mr Erdogan is trying to turn the eastern Mediterranean into a Turkish sea.

He is active elsewhere, too. He has installed a Turkish garrison in Qatar, an ally and fellow backer of Islamist movements that has been threatened by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He has also shown an interest in Yemens civil war, offering Turkey as a safe haven for the Islamists fighting on behalf of the exiled president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. (He may do the same for Mr Hadi if Saudi Arabia grows tired of hosting him.) Across the Red Sea, in Sudan, Turkey is hoping to develop Suakin, a ruined Ottoman port. And it has established its largest overseas base in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Does Turkey have staying power? Its armed forces may already be stretched thin, having lost thousands of officers to show trials and purges in the past decade. And its adventurism isnt cheap. Its operations in Syria alone cost up to $3bn a year, says Nihat Ali Ozcan of TEPAV, a think-tank. But Mr Erdogan focuses on the benefits. Qatar, for example, has gone on an investment spree in Turkey. Earlier this year it helped shore up the weakening lira by tripling its currency-swap agreement with Turkey to $15bn. It may also be helping to pay for the operation in Libya, where Turkey expects to win new contracts when peacetime reconstruction resumes.

There is a domestic political benefit for Mr Erdogan, too. His attacks on the Kurds and posturing in the Mediterranean have delighted the nationalists who are his allies in parliament. They, in turn, have influence over the police and army.

But the going could get tougher. Egypt has mobilised its forces on Libyas border and vows to cross it if Turkey advances further. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, staunch anti-Islamists, would probably back Egypt. Russia is also on the opposing side in Libyaand in Syria, where it is believed to have killed dozens of Turkish troops in February. Mr Erdogan may soon feel he has bitten off more than he can chew.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Ottoman redux"

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Turkey is wielding influence all over the Arab world - The Economist

Tukey has sent mixed signals regarding the Libyan crisis by pledging a decision military action and calling for a peaceful solution in the war-torn country.

We are determined to make sure that our struggle in the vast region from Iraq to Syria and Libya ends in victory for our country and our friends and brothers and sisters in these countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

Turkey will also continue to defend its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean, he said.

In the same context, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar affirmed in statements Thursday that Turkey is doing its utmost to help its Libyan brothers, in order to bring about a ceasefire, stability, and territorial integrity in Libya.

Akar added that the continued external military support received by Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar represents the greatest obstacle to peace in the country.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, stated that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham arrested Fadl Al-Libi, the leader of Jaysh Al-Sahel operating under the banner of Hurras Al-Din organization.

The militant was arrested for refusing to leave Syria and engage in fighting in Libya, at Turkish authorities' orders.

Russias Sputnik also revealed Thursday that a new group of mercenaries was dispatched to al-Watiya airbase in western Libya.

Further, weapons and mercenaries were sent to Misrata ahead of a possible new operation in Sirte and Jufra.

Continued here:
Erdogan Insists on Decisive Action in Libya - Asharq Al-awsat - English

The Illustrious Twelve Imams in the Imperial House of Osmans Subhat al-Akhbar: The Rosary of World History. After the Prophet Muhammad, the subjects of portraits change to religio-political figures from early Islamic centuries and rulers belonging to major dynasties. In this category, the manuscript depicts the first four caliphs on the right, the Twelve Shii Imams on the left. Image source: Twitter.

by Ahmed Khan, Founder, The Rahnuma DailyEditor-In-Chief (therahnuma.com)editor@therahnuma.com

(RAHNUMA)Subhat al-Akhbar: The Rosary of World History is a very important work in Ottoman Turkish delineating the genealogy of the Ottoman Sultans, from Adam, the first completely perfected Man (al-Insan al-Kamil) and prophet, through Sultan Mehmet II, the Conqueror (d.1481) to Sultan Mehmed IV (d. 1687).

Genealogy has always played a major component of political ideology among Muslim dynasties from the Rashidun Era to the Sharifian revolt against the Ottoman caliphate.

The primary function of Subhat al-Akhbar was to introduce multiple sources of political legitimacy used by the Ottoman rulers to readers.

According to Shahzad Bashir, an Assistant Professor of Religion, Carleton College: The manuscripts series of pictorials begins with a portrait of Adam and Eve, followed by numerous biblical (and other) prophets, Jesus, and Muhammad. Portraits of prophets occupy the right and center of pages and are flanked, on the left, by legendary Persian kings and heroes celebrated as paragons of power and virtue in Islamic royal traditions. After Muhammad, the subjects of portraits change to religio-political figures from early Islamic centuries and rulers belonging to major dynasties. In this category, the manuscript depicts the first four caliphs, the Twelve Shii Imams, and rulers from Abbasid, Samanid, Ghaznavid, Saljuq, Mongol, and various Turkic dynasties.

The absence of the Umayyad and Timurid dynasties in the text marked a significant ideological statement by the Ottoman Sultans.

In his book Fasl al-Khitab in the chapter Ahwal al-Aqtab: Fadhail Khulafa wa Ahlul Bayt p. 592, Khwaja Muhammad Parsa states, Imam Hasan al-Askari is the father of Abul Qasim Muhammad al-Muntadharthe birth of al-Muntadhar was on the night of the 15th of Shaban, 255his mothers name is Narjis [Fasl al-Khitab [Arabic]: Fadhail Khulafa wa Ahlul Bayt, p. 592, Khwaja Muhammad Parsa].

Narjis, the wife of Imam Hasan al-Askari, was the granddaughter of Bardas (d. 866), the brother of Byzantine Empress Theodora.

Bardas engineered Theoktistos fall and became the regent for his nephew, Michael III (r. 842867), who was just two years old when he succeeded as sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Bardas rose to the rank of Caesar and was the effective ruler of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, for ten years.

The capital of the Byzantine Empire was Constantinople, known today as Istanbul, Turkey, and for the Ottomans, the conversion of the Hagia Sophia to a mosque symbolized the transfer of power from Europes greatest Empire, to the hands of the Twelfth Imam himself, whose representatives were none other than the Ottoman Sultans, who also claimed the caliphate to themselves though from the Abbasids, but nevertheless through the blessings of Twelve Shiite Imams.

According to early Ottoman traditions, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, el-Fatih (the Conqueror) decided to attack Constantinople only after being convinced by his spiritual advisor, the Sufi Master Aksemseddin that the Twelft Imam Saheb uz-Zaman Muhammad Mahdi al-Muntadhar ibn Hasan Al-Askari was hidden in the conquering army as a soldier.

Following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II, el-Fatih, the Conqueror, assumed the title Kayser-i-Rm (Caesar of the Roman Empire). The adoption of the title implied that the Ottoman state considered itself the continuation, by absorption, of the Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, a view not shared in the West.

Hence, for Ottomans, the fall of Constantinople was seen as the fulfillment of a prophecy about the Ottoman Sultans which justified their rule over the Arab and non-Arab Muslim world, specifically Mehmet II and the Sultans who followed him. These Sultans were styled as representatives of the Hidden Twelfth Imam Muhammad Al-Mahdi in their capacity as Muslim caliphs as the Subhat al-Akhbar and earlier genealogical texts implied, but also now justified their claim to the title of Ceasar of the Eastern Roman Empire through their connection via the shadow caliphate to the Hidden Imam.

As outlandish as that might sound to many, it is theology, and most end time theology usually does. This even provides insight into why Iran might find it to be almost likened to a religious destiny to be allied to Putins Russia, which is the last citadel of what is left of the cultural legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire, which to Iran is linked to Narjis, mother of the Twelfth Shiite Imam.

A 2012 study by US based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed over 670 million Muslims expect Mahdi and Jesus to appear before 2050.

Irrespective of whether one believes in these narratives or not, eschatology is a significantly popular narrative in the Muslim world, and cannot be ignored. Such narratives need to be simply reinterpreted, and if done properly, like with the Ottoman Sultans of the past, and Irans Ayatollahs, can also in fact be helpful. Embracing and reinterpreting these narratives is the tool to forever halt all forms of regional eschatological narratives, which are being used to justify violence as we see with the Houthis for instance, and destabilize the Gulf in the name of the Hidden Arabian Guide Imam Muhammad Al Mahdi.

This proposal is in fact, technically no different to how Gulf states refused to refer to ISIS as Islamic and instead referred to it as Daesh. Likewise, it is now time for the Arabians to reclaim the Twelve Imams, and specifically the Twelfth Imam all of whom were from Arabia and greater Arabia.

With recent developments, is it possible next to the cult-like popular Netflix series Erturul the restoration of Hagia Sophia as a mosque is the final play in President Erdogans partys work to attempt to reinstate and popularize Turkish cultural hegemony in the Muslim world?

If my speculation above on the ideological drivers behind the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople are correct, which they are, then we can also understand the symbolism the restoration of Hagia Sophia as a mosque holds for President Erdogans party.

The restoration is seen by the few ideologues at the very top of Erdogans party as being as done in support of the return of the Mahdi, whose blessings were believed to have aided Sultan Mehmet II, el-Fatih to conquer Constantinople, and capture Hagia Sophia hundreds of years ago. These ideas link Erdogans Turkey to Iran ideologically, and unite the two major centers for non-Arab Sunni and Shiite Islam under a common goal. This is where India can enter and how Indian Muslims and their population can be of tremendous importance in terms of public support for Arab monarchies, if they can see the opportunity in it.

Turkeys historical support for Morsi, friendship with Qatar, and major play during the Khashoggi investigation to undermine the image of the Saudi Crown Prince directly demonstrated to the world it has its own plans for both Palestine and the Holy Cities, and so not addressing this ideological threat with an effective counter narrative could deal a more significant blow to the next generation of Arab rulers then they think, and popular support of Indian Muslims is just the solution Gulf nations require.

Indian society is divided along caste lines, even amongst its Muslims, and given the countries most popular Muslim Saint Khwaja Moinuddin is a descendant of the 11th Shia Imam Hasan Al-Askari, Al Askari Sayyids are the default popular leaders selected by the vast majority of Indian Muslims and hence, are the group the Gulf leadership needs to court.

The Arab world needs to befriend Indian Muslims, not just India, if it wants to effectively repel Turkish and Iranian religious narratives which seek to undermine the legitimacy of their leaders by popular support.

The descendants of Imam Hasan Al-Askari, who are by this account, relatives of the 12th imam, can help win broader recognition and legitimacy to support the current reforms taking place in the region, and winning their blessings and support, technically is no different to how the Ikhwan were courted by Ibn Saud, and how the British courted the Sharifs of Mecca, and how Americas Evangelicals court the Chosen People in Israel.

Unknown to most strategists, Al Askari Sayyids are in fact the counter narrative to Irans Wilayat i-Faqih doctrine, as their very existence undermines the argument of Wilayat i-Faqih by virtue of hereditary leadership, the core doctrine of Shiism itself! So feared are Al Askari Sayyids in the Islamic Republic of Iran, that Iran has actual studies to deny their very existence, despite the fact that thousands of Iranians, Egyptians, Sudanese, Indians and others have been registered as Imam Hasan al-Askaris descendants for hundreds of years by the registrar of Sayyid families, Naqib Al Ashraaf, in these respective countries.

Al Askari Sayyids fled from Iraq and Medina as refugees during the end of the Abbasid era, and are now found in non-Arab lands, and include some of the most influential Muslims in history like Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshband Bukhari, Khwaja Qutbuddin Mawdud Chisti, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Khwaja Mir Dard of the Delhi School, Tajuddin Awliya of Nagpur, Sayyid Ahmed Badawi of Tanta, Egypt, and even Lt. Colonel Amiruddin, the Nizam of Hyderabads Military Secretary.

For over 1300 years, Arabs overwhelmingly neglected the descendants of Imam Al Husayn, and the subsequent damage that has done to the Arab understanding of Islam, can be seen in the intellectual weakness of its religious leaders who remained aloof from them. Arab Islam has for the vast majority of its history been molded by the writings of Persian influences, while Persian Islam is a direct byproduct of Persian fascination with the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Bukhari and the majority of the compilers of the Hadith texts being the best example of Persian influence on Arab Sunni and Shiite Islamic narratives.

The Golden Age of the Arab and Islamic civilization commenced during the period of Ali Ibn Al Husayn titled Zayn Al Abdin and ended in the 12th century.

Sir Edward Arthur Henry Blunts The Caste System of Northern India with Special Reference to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh published by Oxford University Press in 1931 mentions the Al Askari Sayyids amongst the various Muslim castes of India.

Muslims in the Arab world, Turkey and Iran, and even India believe the restoration of the Golden Age the Islamic civilization and its restoration to be a hub for economic, scientific, technological, cultural, and artistic advancement, is something inherently intertwined and interconnected to the return of Imam Hasan Al Askaris family to the Arab world with the advent of the Mahdi, and the Arab world finally embracing them. Maybe the pressure exerted by Turkey and Iran on the Arab world will enable it to finally embrace Al Askari Sayyids back into their societies, and finally embrace the change which is upon them with open arms.

Doing so will be a good move in my opinion.

Ahmed Khan is the Founder of The Rahnuma Daily (theRahnuma.com), the online global English daily edition of The Rahnuma-E-Deccan Daily (ReDD), Indias oldest Urdu daily print newspaper established in 1921. More than 81.1 million Indians identify Urdu as their language, and as per the annual INA (Indian Newspapers Association) report, ReDD ranks among the top 5 most widely circulated and read Urdu daily print newspapers throughout India. Ahmed resides in Hyderabad at his maternal ancestral home and can be contacted at, editor@therahnuma.com

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From Adam to Mehmet II el-Fatih: Insight on Erdogan's eschatology linking Hagia Sophia to the Mahdi, and Turkey to Iran - The Rahnuma Daily