And this is from the most moderate of the moderate Islamic countries, Turkey, under Erdogan, has abandoned the separation of mosque and state, abandoned Ataturk, abandoned its ties with Israel, and increasingly pursues the delusion of a return of the Ottoman empire. While participating in a Middle East panel of the Academy of Achievement in Chicago in September of 2007, Erdogan warned against religious definitions of terrorism and specifically objected to the phrase “moderate Islam.” Erdogan said, “Turkey is not a country where moderate Islam is sovereign. First of all, the ‘moderate Islam’ concept is wrong. The word ‘Islam’ is a simple word — it is only Islam. If you say ‘moderate Islam,’ then an alternative is created.”
