Religious Extremism

Iran Spreads Shiite Extremism to Mediterranean

October 11, 2016

International security experts warn that the impending battle to push Islamic State forces out of the key Iraq city of Mosul may enhance Iran's objective of securing a Shiite extremist corridor to the Mediterranean Sea.
Turkey Minister Accuses Global Forces of Islamophobia, Defamation

October 11, 2016

Turkey's Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç has called on a conference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul to combat the global forces "who want to see Muslim countries slip into social and political chaos" and to be aware of "Islamophobia and defamation of Islam as malicious attempts to negatively influence young people."
Islamist Extremism Endangers Turkey's Christians and Jews

September 28, 2016

Hardline Islamists in Turkey's state media and Islamic State cells inside Turkey are inciting violence against the country's small Christian and Jewish communities, scapegoating these vulnerable communities as "infidels," "seeds of Byzantium," and collaborators in the July coup attempt against Turkey's government.
Jordanian Writer Is Murdered Before Blasphemy Trial

September 28, 2016

The murder of a prominent Jordanian writer outside the Amman court where he was facing trial on blasphemy charges for offending Islam has provoked an outcry over freedoms of speech, religion, and thought in a country critical to US efforts to combat Islamic State-related militancy and extremism.
Calls for Blasphemy Laws in Gaza Test Hamas

September 23, 2016

The Hamas leadership ruling in Gaza is facing what amounts to a litmus test of the movement's Islamist orientation, facing controversy over a proposal by Islamist militants for laws criminalizing blasphemy against Islam that has provoked widespread opposition from Palestinian public intellectuals, scholars, and social media users.
Totalitarianism Rears Head in Turkey's Islamist Factional Struggle

September 19, 2016

Turkey's Islamist regime has taken a hard turn toward totalitarianism in the two-month period since the failed coup attempt against the government, purging and indefinitely imprisoning more than 100,000 citizens for alleged sympathies to the Gulenist Islamist movement that has openly criticized the ruling Islamist party for corruption and dictatorial tendencies.
Observers Question Saudi Renunciation of Islamist Extremism

September 16, 2016

Observers point out that only hard evidence will show whether Saudi Arabia's recent pledges to US officials to give up on the Kingdom's admitted policy of global exportation of Islamist extremism produces a decline in violence, incitement, and terrorism by jihadi groups and actors connected to Wahhabi support.
Iran Calls Out Saudi Arabia for Global Export of Islamic Extremism

September 16, 2016

In another sign of the escalating Shia-Sunni power struggle, Iran's Foreign Minister called out Saudi Arabia's monarchy and religious establishment for "changing the face of Islam" by using massive amounts of petrodollars to finance the globalization of violent extremist Islamism, suggesting that Saudi Arabia needs to "become part of the solution" in ending Islamist terrorism.
Hajj Controversy Spotlights Globalizing Sunni-Shiite Tensions

September 13, 2016

Shiite Iran's public challenge to Sunni Saudi Arabia's religious rights and competence to manage the Islamic hajj, the annual pilgrimage made by millions of Muslims worldwide to Mecca, amplifies escalating tensions within Islam between Shiites and Sunnis and highlights intra-Sunni disagreements over Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi extremist interpretation and export of Islamism.
Algeria Imprisons Man for "Insulting Islam" on Facebook

September 09, 2016

Human Rights Watch asserts that an Algerian appeals court that sentenced a Christian man to three years in prison for posting material it deemed insulting to Islam on Facebook violated the man's rights to due process and to free expression.