Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday called on people to be alert to foreign plots including the currency crisis, underlining that the target is not himself but Turkey and Islam, the Sözcü daily reported.
“When you show a little sign of weakness, you see that they will attack Turkey like vultures. Some unaware people among us think that their target is Tayyip Erdoğan. No, the target is Turkey. The target is Islam,” Erdoğan said, speaking to a crowd in the Malazgirt district of Muş province for the 947th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt) in which the Seljuk Turks claimed victory over the Byzantine Empire in 1071.
Turkey has been facing a currency crisis since its relations with the US administration were dramatically strained over a court decision to put American pastor Andrew Brunson under house arrest after almost two years in pretrial detention rather than release him as demanded by the US administration.
Erdoğan on Monday said “attacks against the Turkish economy are no different than attacking the adhan [call to prayer] and the flag.”
Calling on people to “take ownership of” Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, the Seljuks, the Ottomans, the Balkans and Turkey’s War of Independence and to never forget a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Erdoğan said, “You are the hope of this country, the Muslim ummah and the whole of humanity.”
The victory at the Battle of Manzikert opened the doors of Anatolia (Asia Minor) to the Turks.
The Turkish president linked regional conflicts and an ongoing currency crisis in Turkey to previous attempts to invade Anatolia.
Describing Anatolia as a “keystone of humanity” Erdoğan said: “Those who look for reasons for the problems our county has been facing recently will be mistaken. The scenarios that are written behind closed doors have this sort of background. Do not forget! Anatolia is a wall. If it collapses there will be no longer be a Mideast, Central Asia or Balkans.”