Hi John and Doves,
Watching this short YT clip left me feeling incredibly sad. This escalating war...Armenia v Azerbaijan. The clip in the link shows young men from both sides, lining up at the recruitment office. It reminded me of those old movie clips of young men signing up, proudly, to fight in WW1 and WW2. All those beautiful, healthy young men - with no real idea of what they are signing up for.
Turkey has been vociferous in siding with Azerbaijan - which is a majority Muslim country. There are credible news sources that claim Turkey has taken soldiers (mercenaries) from Libya and Syria and has sent them to bolster the forces in Azerbaijan. It's rather shocking just how thin Turkey is spreading itself. The Eastern Mediterranean - which has set Turkey against the Greeks and the EU. Libya - which, again, has set Turkey against France, Egypt etc. Turkey has a very strong presence in Syria etc. It's also confusing to note that Russia is backing the Armenians - a majority Christian nation - against Azerbaijan.
What a mess! It appears important to remember that Turkey fancies itself as the head of a re-emerging Ottoman Empire. Erdogan hates Israel. He has also turned ancient Christian churches into mosques. Blatantly angering Orthodox Greek Christians as well as the RCC.
This war in Armenia v Azerbaijan is Christian against Muslim. Is this pointing to the 2nd beast? I believe Turkey is the 1st beast which arose in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
We will soon see.