[An Nahar] Turkey is seeking to host a conference for Moslem scholars in Istanbul during the upcoming days to reject extremism and violence and to safeguard Islam against the so-called "caliphate" that was declared by Sunni Lions of Islam in Iraq and Syria.A Turkish envoy held talks with several Moslem scholars and holy mans in Beirut to invite them to attend a conference in Istanbul between July 17 and 19, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The daily said that the invitations come on behalf of the President of Turkish Religious Affairs, Mohammed Kormaz, in an attempt to bring together Moslem scholars at a conference under the title "World Islamic Scholars Peace, Moderation and Common Sense Initiative."
Several invitations have been sent to Moslem scholars in Iraq, Syria, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Egypt and other countries, the newspaper said.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet...
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are expected to attend the conference.
In June, ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni bad boy offensive in Iraq have declared an "Islamic caliphate" and ordered Moslems worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL) renamed itself simply the Islamic State (IS) and declared its shadowy frontman the leader of the world's Moslems, in a clear challenge to al-Qaeda for control of the global jihadist movement.
IS announced that it was establishing a "caliphate" -- an Islamic form of government last seen under the Ottoman Empire -- extending now from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, the regions where it has fought against the regimes in power.
In an audio recording posted online, the group declared its chief His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
"the caliph" and "leader for Moslems everywhere". Henceforth, the group said, he is to be known as "caliph Ibrahim" -- a reference to his real name.