In 2004, in my book “The Islamic Antichrist,” I made the following prediction:

“While presently, there is not any pressing reason to see Turkey as the leader of an imminent world empire, this is nevertheless what Ezekiel prophesied. … Today the Islamic world is awaiting the restoration of that caliphate. The Bible teaches that someday soon the Turkish Empire will be revived.”

In 2005, the National Intelligence Council produced a report called, “Mapping the Global Future: Project 2020.” According to this report, within the next several years, we may expect to see the emergence of a fledgling caliphate, or revived Islamic empire.

For those unfamiliar with the NIC, below is a self-description from its website:

“The NIC is a center of strategic thinking within the U.S. Government, reporting to the Director of National Intelligence and providing the president and senior policymakers with analyses of foreign-policy issues that have been reviewed and coordinated throughout the Intelligence Community. Our work ranges from brief analyses of current issues to ‘over the horizon’ estimates of broader trends at work in the world.”

Looking back, what is interesting about the NIC’s “over the horizon” assessment is that the coming caliphate would not be built on acts of terrorism, but instead would be established through more political means. According to the NIC report, by claiming to provide the Middle East with stability, peace and security, the emergence of the coming caliphate would be viewed positively by much of the world.

In 2009, long before the Arab Spring was even faintly on anyone’s radar, in an article titled, “Will Turkey Lead a Revised Islamic Empire?” I continued to discuss the merging of geopolitical trends with biblical prophecy pointing to the coming emergence of Turkish regional leadership in the Middle East. At that time, I made the following statement:

“For over 500 years, the Turkish Ottomans ruled the Middle East, and, in the years to come, they will arise once again as a regional superpower. And much of the world will welcome this as a positive development.”

In 2011, on the very first day the riots began in Egypt, I made the following prediction:

“As the present era of Arab dictators comes to an end, the model that will be looked to is Turkey. And Turkey will be all too willing to lend its support in the establishment of these new Islamic democracies. The Obama administration will also fully support Turkey in her regional endeavors to this end.”

Two months later, after discussing these things in some depth on the two documentaries “Rumors of War” Part I & II, produced by Glenn Beck’s Mercury Radio Arts, the far-left wing smear out­fit Media Matters launched a predictable offensive against both Beck and me with the headline: “Beck Echoes Joel Richardson: Warns Of Antichrist, Caliphate Led By Turkey.” In standard form, Media Matters whined:

“In addition to endorsing author and anti-Muslim activist Joel Richardson’s attempts to link Islam to the Antichrist, Glenn Beck also echoed Richardson’s views linking Turkey to a purported future Islamic caliphate.”

In a follow up headline, the faux-indignation continued: “Beck Warns Of Sunni-Shiite Unification, New Islamic Empire Based In Turkey.” There Beck was quoted as saying, “Turkey is setting itself up as the home of the caliphate” and “they’re starting to get in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood, deeply.”

Now here we are in 2012. This past week, precisely as I have been predicting since 2004, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu made the following statement:

“We will manage the wave of change in the Middle East. Just as the ideal we have in our minds about Turkey, we have an ideal of a new Middle East. We will be the leader and the spokesperson of a new peaceful order, no matter what they say.”

And again, precisely as predicted, on our side, Vice President Joe Biden, on behalf of the Obama administration, came out and openly expressed support for a neo-Ottoman era of Turkish dominance in the Middle East.

At a fundraising event for the Obama re-election campaign, Biden addressed a group of roughly 200 influential members of the Turkish- American community. In speaking of the Obama administration’s view of Turkey’s reassertion of power in the region, Biden said, “We’re looking for Turkish leadership in the rest of that entire region.”

Biden continued to speak of what a wonderful “model” Turkey is for other Islamic nations: “It’s a model as to how you can have an Islamic population, an Islamic state and a democracy, something the rest of the region is groping to figure out how to do.”

Speaking of American cooperation with Turkey in the region, Biden said, “There’s nothing we do that we don’t coordinate.”

Biden also lashed out at Europe for not welcoming Turkey into its ranks.

According to Neil Munro of the Daily Caller:

Biden offered Turkey’s Islamist government a leading role in the Middle East, despite its recent crackdown on dissidents, expansion of Islamic culture and education, and regional conflicts with Greece and Israel. … Biden said the U.S. would expand its cooperation with Turkey’s Islamic government, partly because the region’s Arab Spring revolutions have boosted the role and power of Islamist groups that aim to impose traditional Islamic laws and beliefs on people in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and other countries in the region.

Noting the success of Turkey’s Islamist Justice and Development Party in terms of their growing political capital not only regionally, but also abroad, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has now begun modeling itself after the party of Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan.

This is no surprise, of course. Since Obama became president, Erdoğan has been a frequent visitor to the White House and speaks to Obama frequently on the phone. From Obama’s perspective, the two men have truly become close friends.

All this despite Erdoğan’s radical turn in recent years to a more overt anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, (causing him to rise to the role of most popular leader in the Middle East).

This should be highly instructive for the leaders of Iran. For while the Islamist leaders of both Iran and Turkey seek precisely the same thing, namely regional dominance, while Ahmadinejad and Khamenei receive only sanctions, threats and isolation from the U.S., Prime Minister Erdoğan, who has employed a much more dissimulative approach, is regularly welcomed by Obama with hugs, laudations and an ever-increasing measure of political capital and power.

President Obama continues to treat Erdoğan with only the greatest measure of respect. “I just want to say how much I appreciate the opportunity to once again meet with my friend and colleague, Prime Minister Erdoğan. … [He is] an outstanding partner and an outstanding friend on a wide range of issues,” Obama said on March 25 of this year.

The naysayers can flail and shout all they want, but there is no denying that it’s all unfolding exactly as the Bible intones. In the years ahead, the inevitable emergence of Turkey as the most powerful nation in the region will only continue to become more and more apparent. As all eyes are presently on Iran, don’t forget to keep one eye on Turkey. (© 2012 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. 05/02/12)