Prophetic Partners - The Russian/Turkey Alliance Deepens

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to get the most from Turkey's theoretical Western allies while in reality allying with Russian President Vladimir Putin - like sort of a Muslim Fidel Castro.

In an article published last month, this author suggested:

The New York Times, in an editorial, woke up and agreed:

Back in July, the West wanted to maintain its comfortable sleep over bitter facts when Erdoğan unexpectedly green-lit Sweden's bid to join NATO. This move provoked a degree of celebration and praise that individual leaders rarely get at a summit. U.S. President Joe Biden applauded Erdoğan's "courage, leadership, and diplomacy." "This is a historic day," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Erdoğan could not have been read more mistakenly.

At the Sochi summit on September 4, Erdoğan, speaking as if he were Putin's spokesman, suggested that "Ukraine should soften its position on the grain corridor deal," referring to the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement, from which Russia had withdrawn on July 17. Having taken orders from the boss, Erdoğan returned home with an agenda to convince Western parties to the deal on whatever terms Moscow insists should be in any new agreement.

Erdoğan needs Western money to prevent Turkey's economic suicide. He needs U.S.-made fighter jets to maintain a delicate power balance over the Aegean skies. He needs Western pats on the shoulder to win legitimacy for his undemocratic one-man rule. But he wants all of these cookies without having to give up Russia. Over the past years, Erdoğan has made Turkey addicted to Russia, like a junkie to a dealer.

Russia is building -- and will own -- Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast. In Sochi, Erdoğan and Putin agreed to build a second Russian nuclear power plant, planned for Sinop on the Black Sea coast.

In 2022, Russian exports to Turkey reached $60 billion, making the country the biggest source of Turkey's imports. In 2021, Russia ranked second after China, with exports worth $29 billion to Turkey. Turkey's crude oil imports from Russia rose from 10 million tons in 2021 to 19 million tons in 2022. 

This means Russia supplied 41% of Turkey's total oil imports in 2022. Turkey's energy watchdog said that in May-June of 2023, Russia's share of oil imports reached 50%. Also in 2022, Russia also supplied 39% of Turkey's natural gas. Russia is Turkey's top energy supplier.

Five million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2022. The head of Turkish construction companies' union, Erdal Eren, said that Turkish companies hold $18 billion to $20 billion in their Russian construction portfolio.

Against this backdrop, it was appalling to hear an EU ambassador in Ankara tell me that he was appalled that Erdoğan said that a) he trusts Russia as much as he trusts the West, and that b) Ankara could "part ways" with the European Union if necessary. Erdogan's ultranationalist ally, Devlet Bahçeli, immediately endorsed the cheap bluff: "We're done with the EU."

That is the way Erdoğan does horse trading. Sadly, each time, the gullible West gets cheated.

Erdoğan's Turkey is one of the countries continually breaking Western sanctions on Russia. Earlier in September, the US State Department imposed sanctions on five Turkish shipping and trade companies for repairing Russian Defense Ministry vessels, transporting Russian military goods, and helping Russia to evade sanctions.

From the editor: 

So why should you care that Vladimir Putin has been recently meeting with both Iranian and Turkish leaders? 

You should care because more than 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel warned of a future time when a vast coalition of nations will attack Israel. The leader of this coalition is a man known as Gog, the ruler of Magog (Ezekiel 38:1). This is why the invading force is known as the Gog of Magog coalition. 

According to Ezekiel this alliance will send an overwhelming force to invade Israel in the last days. And today, for the first time in human history, we see this alliance forming.

The Invading Nations

Which nations does Ezekiel describe? He identifies the invading nations as "Magog, Rosh, Meschech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah" (Ezekiel 38:1-6). If you look on a 2023 map of the globe, you won't find any of these nations. So how can I say this alliance is forming?

Because these are the ancient biblical names of these nations, and while their names have changed over the years, we can still locate them on a map today. Below is a list of each nation, followed by its modern day name:

Rosh = Russia

Magog = Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan

Persia = Iran

Cush = Sudan

Put = Libya

Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah = Turkey

It's been centuries since Ezekiel first recorded these prophecies. Yet, this alliance has never existed. It certainly hasn't invaded Israel. But now? Today, we see it coming closer each day.

Learn more about the coming battles described in scripture with Bill Salus new book/DVD "The Future War Prophecies" which locates the battlefields, identifies the participants, explains the motives, provides the details and explores the outcomes of these coming world changing conflicts.  Learn more here.