i am a sociologist of religion, a theologist in islam, a specialist in sufism and islamic activism iniddle east, i studied arabic language at copenhagen university, i studied arabic language in egypt and ultimately in syria and damascus. sorry to interrupt, i just want... arabic language is a very difficult language and i am still on that journey. 0k. you talk about egypt. i wonder, for example, what do you think the revered islamic scholars of al—azhar university would make of your claims to be redefining a non—patriarchal, non—misogynist islam ? as in any university, there are mixed views. at al—azhar university, concerning the concept of female imams, you will find scholars say that female imams is a possibility, it is legal. three out of four islamic schools allow female imams leading the prayers for other women. so it's actually not that controversial, even though they don't think it is a great idea, they still have to accept it. they have to accept it because it was part of our islamic tradition. in the first house mosque in the islamic civilisation, that was the house mosque of

and would you accept that your faith in islam is far from would you accept that your faith in islam isr equal, is riven with misogyny? yes, u nfortu nately equal, is riven with misogyny? yes, unfortunately islam is being interpreted discriminatory and of course this affects women all over the world. and because of that we would like to give a rereading of the koran with a focus on gender equality. when you start a mosque with female imams you meet a lot of opposition and people get upset because you change the structure and then you change the power balance. so one of the questions that we often get, as many other women who are seeking to change the power balance is concerning women's rights, it is a question about legitimacy, from where do you get your legitimacy? 0ur legitimacy is based on knowledge, based on the needs in our society and based on islamic theology. let's tease that out a little bit and get to your background. many people watching and listening won't know your own background. it is fascinating. you come from a mixed marriage. your father was muslim from syria who went

to islam we call for the rule of islamic law but with. reports in a terrible trap i think between the devil and the big losing respect. there but i think in creating. this space is being sure you. cannot claim a. news . we've come to bangladesh a country that few people outside asia know much about not many tourists venture here. at a time when intolerance religious fundamentalism and zina phobia are on the rise well why would we want to find out more about what is happening in this densely populated country where muslims own the majority. but when it comes to bangladesh western news coverage tends to focus on reports of flooding lack of development and poverty. the terrible work conditions in the country's textile industry also make headlines an industry that provides the rest of the world with cheap clothing. in recent years a wave of islamist terrorism has also swept over the country. many of the victims have been liberal or secularists bloggers and writers. of mass exodus several hinge or refugees to bangladesh is now confronting the

just know it was wrong for most women every muslim needs islamic education to go muslim if you go islamic education does not mean. teaching to torture or kill others islam teaches peace on this edition of the . students who graduate from this and address more than willing gaijin social causes so that the problems we have in society will diminish and whether we hope that they will they will eradicate immorality and corruption in our society some of them of us corporate model of the owner than of us for the basic good of it. the islamic scholar says that the qur'an can be the only foundation of the country it provides answers to all earthly questions we ask him if the i phone can also be found in the qur'an probably osha's yes of course that described in the koran of live when it does the research is going to find out all these discoveries in the koran of the for example the missiles that are being invented today about this and that tomic bombs over these things were all foretold by the prophet one thousand four hundred years ago they got together and they would have needed isn't. just a fe

what is the government's position on the rise of islam islam and what is their stance on the violence that has been directed at bloggers hossein to mom is an advisor to the prime minister. this is a preponderantly muslim country. or will be and some of them are very superstitious or extremely religious so when you distort the quran which is a holy book and comment on the life of the prophet some people are incensed. they lose their balance that's how the bloggers the brought it on themselves. the mom is one of prime minister shaikh huskiness closest political advisors yet he and by extension the government are suggesting that the bloggers share in the blame the man does little to counter that impression. we practice secularism and the enemies of secularism are those with the blogs and the those who kill them. the extremists we have to bring them within the mainstream that is our main purpose. the man has been involved in politics since the founding of bangladesh he believes the government must extend its hand to the islamists in order to maintain social cohesion for example by recogni

muslim and every muslim needs islamic education the islamic education does not mean teaching to torture or kill up as islam teaches peace and there is this option of. students who graduate from this much more than willing gauge and social causes so that the problems we have in society will diminish the more they will hope that they will eradicate immorality and corruption in our society some of. us for that matter the owner than of us the basic of the of. the islamic scholars says that the qur'an can be the only foundation of the country it provides answers to all earthly questions we ask him if the i phone can also be found in the qur'an torah osha's yes of course that described in the koran of will when it was a research just can find out all these discoveries in the koran for example the missiles that are being invented today about this and that tomic bombs that these things were all foretold by the prophet one thousand four hundred years ago they gave us and we should need this in. just a few weeks after this interview we found out that the teachers of the heart as our image confisc

look it's a big it's a big concern i mean syrian peace in the stability in islam is you know the islamic state is out there it's going to prevent that from happening so i think everyone should be concerned about that but of course the problem is is that the u.s. is the is playing both sides of that conflict i'm supporting. the islamic state and then other times fighting you know and so that is you know one of the problems that syrian people face. we live in strange times journalists disappear. you get people killing people on their own side in war will there be repercussions is that justice will there be an official investigation or does it all just disappear like i said the fog of war. judging from the past i have to believe that will just disappear and be forgotten and frankly i doubt it will even hear about it much on mainstream media. in the united states. dan appreciate your time this in the thanks for coming on dan kovalchuk my guest human rights lawyer peace activist. thanks you know. and finally to germany where a kindergarten a school to control the sea for promoting itself as a

has been guilty of both religious and racial stereotypes of a lot of people and when it comes to islam and muslims the trope that is usually. bandied about is that islam is a foreign religion and so whether you are indigenous or immigrant whether you're african-american or ever american or pakistani american i think we're all basically trying to we're all struggling with these stereotypes so there are many different paths that we are taking in terms of dealing with these hollywood tropes limits him and also there's a great video that was done by a friend of mine michael singh called valentino's ghost and it looks about the public opinion that was manufactured to support and film foment anti muslim an anti era policies in this in this country so it doesn't go back at least two hundred years if not longer as he's going to make it right there wouldn't it as a good thing as he says if i had to say something you know from a performer actually someone who's lived this for fifteen years in the business and i navigate not doing those stereotypes and resisting and saying no to a job that didn't

it seems like you are scared because you are in fact members of islamic state. impicciatore, so it was time to try the taliban. this guy is supposedly a member of the taliban. he was the taliban commander i had heard about. there have been some pretty deadly suicide bombings killing many innocent civilians in kabul. do you condone asa civilians in kabul. do you condone as a tax? —— those attacks? why can you not have talks, ceasefire, communication? what if you get to the gates of heaven and you tell god you've killed all these people and he tells you they are innocent and that you have not been a good muslim? before we could challenge in though we we re before we could challenge in though we were told we had to leave. your time is up. 0k. the guards were concerned with our safety. the taliban were angry at the interview. that was my chance to meet the guys who terrorised this place. they are the people literally killing civilians on an almost daily basis now. and you can see why, because death is really nothing to them. this is a country desperate for peace. bu

state is defeated militarily almost defeated we still live under the threat of islamic terrorism and salafism provides much of the ideology behind this terrorism and jihadism which by no means is to say that every cell of his is going to be a terrorist but the other way around basically every islamic terrorist in europe over the last couple of years has a leftist background as have those who travel to iraq and syria to join the dream and on a personal note i happen to live in bonn which is one of the top spots and for years i've seen zola fists handing out korans in the in the city but then they want to be seen anymore and i was curious where did they go what happened to them and i was curious about like their mindset all right we're going to go to our conversation because i think it be helpful for our viewers if we provide them with a bit more background on this topic we have this report for you on salafism in germany. salafism is a fundamentalist form of islam some of its supporters reject modern western democratic norms the german domestic intelligence service says salafism is one

we're told reportedly fired into southern israel by islamic jihad. well the idea is israel always holds hamas responsible as it is the governing power in the gaza strip now actually the israeli army had issued a statement earlier today saying explaining that more than eighty of the targets hit overnight were actually hamas and only eight were from islamic jihad and they specifically said again it's because they hold responsible how muslim how much should be able to control all the different factions that are that are operating from big as it sit now israel actually went a little bit further distance it actually said it thinks that as leverage you had has acted under the orders of iran or the revolutionary guards or goods forces that are based in syria according to israel that could be simply because you have leadership of islamic jihad who are living in exile between lebanon syria and iran however israel didn't provide any proof of that islamic jihad on its side had said well there were tensions along the border you know the usual friday protests the

they support a radical form of islam and reject democracy and freedom salafist. it's one of the fastest growing branches of islam in germany that's what the federal domestic intelligence service says in two thousand and eleven german authorities knew of about three thousand eight hundred salafist in the country three years later that number was seven thousand. and by two thousand and seventeen it was ten thousand eight hundred that's almost a tripling in seven years. and this is the salafist stronghold in germany the western state of north rhine-westphalia it's thought there are about three thousand salafist supporters here the regional intelligence agency classifies eight hundred of them as prone to violence authorities watch female salafist particularly carefully as wives and mothers they're important in holding the community together in two thousand and twelve a group of islam ists in germany were caught planning a bomb attack in bonn at least one of the group had salafist connections. salafist have taken to a german town centers preaching and handing out the

if you are all not members of islamic state, are you happy to renounce what they do?ctics that they use? the people that they kill? and the parents of a spanish man receive an honour from the queen for his bravery during the london bridge attack last year. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, scotland took the lead in their nations league tie in israel. find out if alex mcleish‘s side could hold on to make it good evening. there is deepening concern about the viability of universal credit, the government's flagship welfare reform. the former conservative prime minister sirjohn major warned that it could spell "deep political trouble" for the government. and, during the day, the work and pensions secretary acknowledged that some people could be worse off under the scheme. universal credit brings together six welfare benefits into one payment. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar reports from bath. no problem finding milk for a cuppa anyway, fridge always seems to be empty. soon millions on benefit will be getting universal credit, and each has their own tale to

bangladesh the dawn of islam islam and exclusive d.w. report starts october eighteenth. this week on the world stories. cameron's refugees a conflict forgotten in. china pitching up at a campus. we begin in syria where it's estimated that some two thousand fighters belonging to so-called islamic state are sheltering in a small town near the iraqi border. kurdish arabic militias arctic air and attack. these recruits are here to liberate the last areas in syria held by islamic state in just a few days the young men from the syrian democratic forces will be transferred to the front about thirty kilometers away. marching shooting practice and tactics the u.s. estimates that up to two thousand i.a.s. fighters are still entrenched in hygiene but. the twenty four year old commander of the kurdish arab militia is rallying his troops for the bloody battle ahead. i've lost so many friends so many i can't count one died in my arms and another right next to me there were so many. the u.s. invited to visit the s.d.f. as part of the press trip with the group is us commander of the spe

it seems like you're scared, because you are in fact members of islamic state.talk, so it was time to try the taliban. ok, so this guy is supposedly a dangerous member of the taliban. he was the taliban commander i had heard about. i mean, there have been some pretty deadly suicide bombings killing many innocent civilians in kabul. do you condone those attacks? why can you not have talks, ceasefire, communication? what if you get to the gates of heaven, and you tell god you've killed all these people, and he tells you they are innocent, and that you have not been a good muslim? before we could challenge him further, we were told we had to leave. yourtime is up. 0k. the guards were concerned with our safety. the taliban were angry at my interview. we're now rushing out of the prison. that was my chance to meet the guys who terrorised this place. they are the people literally killing civilians, on an almost daily basis now. and you can see why — because death is really nothing to them. this is a country desperate for peace, but for many here, it feels further away

this man from a small german town says he fell in with the so-called islamic state by accident but federal prosecutors say he was at the center of a terrorist plot to kill hundreds in germany we'll hear from them later in the show . and chaotic scenes at a major hindu temple in india hundreds of police try to prevent clashes between women of menstruating age entering the temple for the first time in centuries and conservative hindu groups are determined to stop that. plague. i'm sorry so much condoms good to have you with us british prime minister teresa mayes face. an intense criticism at home that's after admitting that she is considering a european union proposal that would keep britain bound to the blocs rules for several months longer than originally planned after a summit of leaders in brussels failed to make enough progress and reaching a divorce agreement the e.u. has now suggested more time for striking a trade deal that ensures a frictionless border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland that with drugs at the border between northern ireland and the republic is set

state is basically defeated militarily we still live with the spread of islam is terrorism and much of the ideology driving islam is terrorism is salafi in nature it is salafi ideology of course not every salafist as you just said is going to be a terrorist but basically every islamist terrorist in europe over the last couple of years has. a radical background as have most of the people of all who went to syria and iraq to join so-called islamic state. on a personal note i live in which happens to be the lofty hot spot and for years i have seen the leftists handing out korans in a city but then all of a sudden they sort of vanished and i was curious. to know what are they doing and what's their mindset we've got a report now on. here in germany take a look. salafism is a fundamentalist form of islam some of that support is reject modern western democratic norms the german domestic intelligence service says salafism is one of the fastest growing branches of islam in germany in twenty eleven german authorities were aware of some three thousand eight hundred salafist in the country thr

bangladesh the dawn of islamism and exclusive d.w. report starts october eighteenth. is you know i mean you're monotonous he. goes oh no there's cynical me. i'm a seen us all up with out about. vision of getting.

so he kind of never touches on the critiques of islam within those movements. so it appears to have been bannon, this appears to have been bannon's official alt-right position. i'm almost tempted to call it alt as in old-right. but there is a strand within the alt-right that regards the problem the west is facing in a more radical way. if bannon wants to preserve and revive the judeo-christian west, these folk leave that the root of the modern crisis is not simply caused by the sapping of the strength of christian faith, in practice, by an ethically demore capitalism and secularism, in contrast they believe the strength of religious of the west was originally sapped by christianity itself and for these guy, racism is not a bug, it is a feature. the alt here is not simply an alternative to a conservatism that has lost its traditional moral moarings, it is an alternative to the judeo-christian western civilization of such. and if you want to get a taste of this ideology, i invite you to skim through the texts that make up the alt-right reading list put together b

specializes in arab and islamic affairs at the new america foundation he joins us via skype from los angeles so there are still so many unresolved issues what is the major one as you see it. well today the main one of the major issues is the constitution the u.n. special representative stefan the mistura was empowered by the un to set up our panel of experts drop the constitution and recently the for the form of the syrian foreign minister told him that that's not going to happen when i can accept these people so about something as basic as is writing a new constitution the syrian government has ruled out there's really not much for the world powers to do if the syrian government is going to accept any type of peace negotiation and and honestly what what reason would bashar assad have to agree to that he actually has no and sense of security so why he won the war when the russians got involved in september two thousand fifty the bombing campaign they have effectively rolled up the rebels on the one pocket math and give them their president good government control of most of the count

the fight against the so-called islamic state in russia which included u.s. airstrikes destroyed more than seventy percent of the city. there's not much left barely any hospitals homes or anywhere to live and no mains electricity but people are slowly coming back. we really need work they don't have work you can't eat or drink work is the most important thing for sure will come of that it luckily some schools are opening again and we were just heard our children my daughter was not allowed to study under i.r.s. now she's in the first grade even though she's older but still she's allowed to study that's not the fact that the u.s. has been giving what it calls stabilization eight to rocka that means clearing mines and rubber repairing buildings and supporting local people but it doesn't mean large scale reconstruction well the united states has said that in terms of rebuilding there can't begin until we've got here reversible progress towards a political solution through the geneva process and so that's what we're looking towards it's. irreversible progress on

islam is not a monolith it comes in many forms. ibadi theology arguably forms the backbone of many of oman's codes of conduct. it places value on concepts like politeness, acceptance, unity, and understanding. perhaps, as a consequence of that, the sultanate embraces grace and tact as a matter of foreign policy. internally too, oman has avoided radicalism and sectarian violence. it is considered shameful by ibadi teachings to draw blood over religious conflicts, unless attacked.

it seems like you are scared because you are in fact members of islamic state. the so-called islamic state clearly were not in the mood to talk. it was time to try the taliban. this guide is supposedly a dangerous member of the taliban. it was the taliban commander i have heard about. there have been pretty deadly suicide bombings killing many innocent civilians in kabul. do you condone those attacks? rorter: why can you not have talks, cease-fire communication? reporter: what if you get to the gates of heaven and you tell god you have killed all these people, and he tells you they are innocent, and you have not a beood muslim? reporter: before we could chlenge him further, we we told we had to leave. ok. the guards were concerned for our safety. the taliban we angry. that was my chance tmeet the guys who terrorize and literally kill civilians on an almost daily basis now. seyou can see why -- becaueath is nothing to them. this is a country desperate for peace. for many here, it feels furthera awayever. bbc news, kabul. ne: fascinating interview there, and clear

in frankly what has been called islam a phobia and the spreading of that mentality. well. in the end part of the party here. there's a couple organizations i don't want to name names because i don't want to give them any publicity but they have been worked very hard to try to silence my voice in fact my campaign in my district was sabotaged by this group to try to make sure that i did not win the seat in my district i didn't make it past the primary. but these people they know the truth i have actually given the. historical evidence as well as verses in the qur'an the counter dicked some of their or their hatred and their misinformation that they continue to go ahead and spread misinformation and hate across members of the party for their own personal gain. to my understanding some of the refugees that had come over from the civil war in syria that the tourists lee had you know support for some of the various groups that are operating against the assad government coming from you know the obama administration and from the u.s. and other countries basically still taking thos

well the islamic jihad armed group has seen its power and influence grow in recent years particularly in gaza formed in the one nine hundred eighty s. it's linked to the lebanon based group hezbollah and backed by iran israel says it has links to syria to islamic jihad has carried a suicide bombings and numerous attacks on israeli civilians the e.u. and the us consider it a terrorist organization it has also been sharply critical of the palestinian authority and refused to abide by palestinian israeli cease fires in gaza despite hamas agreeing to the. sami is a member of the palestinian journalist syndicate he says there is potential here for a longer truce if israel stops firing on unarmed protesters at that border fence and the palestinian people live there the schools to avoid any bombing. near that there's any bombing is in this immediate near the schools then the out of habit then the place is and even the close to a hospital and the hospital has been damaged or at this moment that it has come is but i expect that we will testify another skelly cian next friday because according

if there are key adversaries the muslim brotherhood wants an islamic republican model the u.a.e. and the saudis are threatened by that because they want an islamic monarchy and so they feel challenged at the same time in yemen the saudis in the u.a.e. have been assisted by the islam he's in their campaign to take the southern city of god and from the who so the it's like he's were actually allies of convenience with the d's and the saudis and then the go ahead and carry out this assassination campaign because of a lot of factors the a slice and the people in the south in general in yemen who are sunni are getting tired of seeing these foreign invaders come in and take over their sea parts sea ports like the m.r.i. adiz there's pressure to get them out these assassinations of been revealed by this immorality group and we're going to see more fish years on the ground between us law and its supporters who are a key part of the saudi u.a.e. coalition and that actually is going to this story could actually change the dynamics of the war in yemen i think that's what's significant here

this is d w news live from our lead us back to kurdish troops step up the battle to expel islamic state from a strongholds in eastern syria these troops are preparing for their last friday here in syria i guess. they would within the next weeks it's going to be a turning point for them that's why they're preparing every day who is embedded with the n.t.i. us coalition and reports from the front lines also coming up right politicians here both in auto has won the first round of brazil's presidential election they'll face a left wing candidate for now know who died in the runoff in three weeks time a dog has warned voters that both in the road is a threat to democracy plus time is running out to avert a global climate disaster a new landmark report warns that the world has reached a tipping point it says the next few years could be the most important in human history. i'm sara kelly welcome to the program a final push is under way in syria and iraq to take back territory still controlled by the so-called islamic state it is hoped that this will be the final chapter in the war against the

we have history of course we have a historical context but the problem is that with islam there is no historical context it has the text full stop and you cannot say anything we should have free speech i'm sorry as a muslim who work on any sort of discussion any sort of dialogue or discussion with any critic of islam as long as it is of all them to sit down and be taught but if somebody actually turns around the abuse and becomes abusive then that's a different kettle of fish it's a cultural discussions it happens in our societies so islam must be ready also to be tackled to be questioned about certain things that are not acceptable that are also legislations now against islamophobia why one people should be free to be islamophobia as some people are anti christian for anti-christian for example so it should be free we should have free speech and it goes as far as saying in some instances that perfect mom it was very wrong you know we cannot allow people to use the concept of freedom of speech which actually i think is a very important. thing to have but we cannot allow people to use

this has nothing to do with islam. and they should be pushed out, and their tactics are to become more violent and probably move to elsewhere, and i was speaking with someone from a country very far from there who was quite anxious about people who were from his country coming back to his country with hardened views and hardened from battle. the islamic state is a cancer. and we should really stop calling them that. i find it embarrassing and insulting that we continue to do that. because it tags islam with that behavior. let's stop that. it gets right back to my talk about cooperation. you walk into a room of muslims and you say, oh, the islamic state, and what are they thinking? as soon as they hear islamic, they think koran and regulations and laws of koran and you're talking about a guy who burned a jordanian officer in a cage. can we please get real? >> anybody else? >> well, i think dayesh, as they're rightly called, have modified their behavior. however, they're spreading the hate message still using social medi

scenes like this are likely to be repeated today in the eastern german city of tbilisi is the empty islam group if you'd ever turns to one of its favorite stomping grounds a day of demonstrations expected as the group marks its full anniversary. and in the bundesliga berisha dortmund are looking rampant at the top of the table the black and yellows on beating this season and scoring funny shit got one of the latest victims we have all the gold from the game and. i knew it was mackinnon thanks so much for joining us. president donald trump has told reporters that the u.s. will unilaterally pull out of a nuclear arms agreement with russia the landmark intermediate range nuclear forces treaty was negotiated more than thirty years ago by then president ronald reagan and the soviet leader mikhail gorbachev it bans nuclear and conventional miss aisles with ranges of five hundred to fifty five hundred kilometers is what president trump had to say. violated the agreement they'd been violated here for many years that i don't know why president obama didn't negotiate or pull out. we're not going to

some fire bombs also israeli troops responded with tear gas and live ammunition killing protesters islamic jihad said the rockets fired a sudden israel later in retaliation for the killing of these four palestinians earlier in the day but then the israeli army spokesman said that the rockets were launched with quote clear guidance from iran and the revolutionary guard forces in syria basically saying that this leverage you had were following orders from tehran now this all comes at a time where it seems that hamas and israel through egyptian mediation are making progress in reaching an agreement on a long term ceasefire come seems to have returned on both sides after egyptian diplomatic efforts to avoid further escalation leading to islamic jihad to declare a cease fire as long as israel abides by it to the for them so you must mean the egyptians thankfully into. and existed huge efforts between the resistance factions in gaza and the zionist occupation bijection if it's led to understanding is to restore calm to the gaza strip the israel hasn't responded yet at least not publicly knowing

and british forces in syria halt their operation against islamic state claiming they have come under fire from turkey. are broadcasting live direct marsters moscow this is art international john thomas . certainly glad to have you with us now donald trump has said the u.s. will continue its oil embargo on iran that pledge was made in a memorandum to administration officials sent on wednesday however his national security adviser john bolton has hinted that broader u.s. sanctions targeting countries that trade with iran could be softened we understand obviously a number of countries in the. immediately surrounding iran some which i just visited last week others have been purchasing the oil may not be able to go all the way all the way to zero immediately so we want to we want to achieve maximum pressure but we don't want to harm friends and allies either and we're working our way through that. and we're now joined by. thanks for helping us rubber minds around this one so it sounds like a more cautious approach from john bolton how does it match up with what he said about it in the pas

hamas and islamic jihad. unite and coordinate. actions against the israeli enemy if they are to be effective every time they are ok it was i called in money. goes towards israel is there a sense that falls on the tanks and kills hundreds of gazans and destroys the infrastructure and schools and hospitals i wonder when the palestinian resistance will find a united front to be more effective or to use a more effective means or to stop it altogether because the people who are paying the price the people of gaza who have been living under siege in an open prison for the last twelve years let's widen out a little bit more to far because a little earlier this week we've had the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu visit non four days before him mahmoud abbas the palestinian authority president went there as well how much do you read into what's going on there and the potential for maybe another. peace process but perhaps some more negotiations with the amount. look if israel wants to negotiate two of the with the palestinians they

we are the same state that fought against the distorted representation of islam. we were engaged in the fight before operations in paris, london, and brussels. appreciate these historical realities. quit imposing sanctions and and extremism. the world will not have a better friend than iran if peace is what you seek. i thank you for your attention. [ applause ] >> campaign 2018 debate coming up this week on cspan. tonight, david young debates cindy acme. that is live tonight on our companion network. tomorrow, martin heinrich debates make rich and gary johnson the former republican government -- governor of new mexico is running for senate as a libertarian. it starts tomorrow on cspan, your primary source for campaign 2018. >> the message is those in charge on both sides screwed up. the center for strategic studies recently held a study. the commander of naval air forces and the marine corps were among the speakers. >>

the islamic world -- saudi arabia tries to portray itself as the center of the islamic world. the king of saudi arabia's official title isn't king, he's custodian of the two holy sites, mecca and medina. and that given -- and also with saudi arabia's enormous oil wealth and the fact millions upon millions of muslims go there every year, saudi arabia can make a very strong claim to be the center of the islamic world. this country, turkey, for 500 years was the seat of the sultan. it was the seat of the caliphate. the sultan's name was commander of the faithful. this is a very old rivalry and turkey says, and also can say convincingly that it is bringing this 500-year tradition into the modern era by joining alliances like nato, by having negotiations with the eu. and that is the politics that president erdogan very much sees himself being part of. so he sees this crown prince, who may have just made a fatal error and is trying to capitalize on it. >> richard, thanks for the context and analysis that's so important in this discussion. richard engel is istanbul, turkey, for us. c