Arbana Xharra case tells of Erdogan's Islamic agenda

The renowned American rightist newspaper “Breitbart” has published an article about journalists from Kosovo, Arbana Xharra through which tells of the fraud Turkish President Erdogan made with the vas of Saudi journalist Khashoggi and his Islamist agenda in Balkan.

By Julio Rivera

The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, has dominated global titles in recent months. Khashoggi, also a former adviser to the Saudi royal family who entered a self-declared exile in the United States last year. From America, he regularly criticised Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies in a monthly column for the Washington Post.

Khashogg is thought to have found a revenge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told world leaders at the G20 summit that he requested the extradition of Khashoggi's killers. The Turkish president had declared to the G20 that Crown Prince Mohammed gave world leaders an incredible explanation of the situation.

President Donald Trump refers to the internationally condemned assassination as the worst cover in history and has brought discussions on possible consequences, beginning with restrictions on future arms sales in Saudi Arabia, on another degree of American support in Saudi Arabia intervention in Yemen civil war.

While the issue of journalists under fire by revenge governments unpleasant with their review has received more attention from the press recently, a story of an investigative journalist has flown mostly under radar.

Most Americans are not familiar with Arbana Jarre, who shared her terrible story. Jarra is a well-known Kosovo journalist, the newest state in Europe, who declared independence in 2008 with full support from the United States. As a result of her reporting, she has had to face humiliation, threats, and even physical attacks.

Since 2012, Jarra began a 12-month investigation into the rise of religious extremism after the fall of socialism in the former Yugoslavia. It was one of the first to report on Islamic extremists operating in Kosovo and other Balkan countries and their ties to terrorist organisations.

Her work helped uncover operational and financial ties, helping government efforts to tackle the problem

Besides having 73,000 Facebook followers, it is the three-time winner of the UN Development Programme Award (UNDP) for its articles on corruption in Kosovo in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Jarra was also honoured with a Balkan Stock Exchange for Excellence Journal in 2012 and won the International Women's Prize for Courage of Secretary of State for European Division in 2015

Recently, it has been noted for its extensive writing on the globalization of religious extremism financed and executed by the Erdogan regime in the Balkans and across Europe

Its articles illustrated the fact that Erdogan has financed the construction of a network of mosques in the Balkans aimed at using it as a tool for spreading Radikal Islam. It also found that Erdogan has chosen Turkish imams by hand to lead Islam's teaching to influence young people. Its investigative report has highlighted the fact that Erdogan is economically manipulating Balkan leaders by investing selectively in several countries to boost his regional power.

According to Jarras, Erdogan uses the Turkish Agency for Co-operation and Development (TIKA) and Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) to expand its influence in the Balkans, where they have built hundreds of religious institutions. This includes the promise of the Central-40m mosque in Kosovo and the construction of a similar extravagant mosque on a 10,000 square metres property on George W.W. Street. Bush in Tirana, Albania already under construction

It was Erdogan's continuation to ensure that numerous critical funds, including airports, infrastructure, mines and energy distribution projects are financed and managed mainly by Turkey.

Its investigations have exposed Erdogan's efforts to suppress the moderate Islamic movement led by Fetullah Gylen. Gylene currently lives in exile in the United States. It has also written extensively in Dayannet and its involvement in promoting Erdogan's Islamic agenda. She says the organisation, which also reports active in the US, serves to spy on Turkish citizens who have fled Turkey around the world.

As a result of her fearless reporting, Jarra began receiving threats not only from the objectives of her stories but also from people sympathetic to radical Islam and Erdogan

In an interview in Skype on this article conducted on Christmas week, I asked Jarre about threats against her and her family, the way authorities treated them, and where she thinks Erdogan's campaign of influence is at the bottom. Regarding the initial threats it received, Jarra said, “initially, I underestimated the threats. At just one weekend in 2015, I received over 200 threats via social media

She claims that after reporting the threats against the police, an officer asked him why he was writing about only Islamic groups, not even Catholic groups.

The police had to take my statement, not appreciate my work, Jarra said.

This wave of threats occurred in response to her response to the propagandistic material that was posted on the internet and targeted by her two children.

While continuing to write and investigate, a new version of Radikal Islam began spreading within its own country and other border countries. As a result, it was painted as Islamist in its region of origin. Social media posts tried to portray her as against fasting during Ramadan, and claimed her uncle was linked to the former Serbian regime that had killed ethnic Albanians

It faced a campaign of hatred that expanded beyond ordinary citizens, political figures were included in the campaign. Turkish Ambassador Kıvılsım Kılıc wrote an open letter against her at the beginning of 2017, published on the internet and, a few days later, her photo became viral in social media as the face of not only the anti-Islamic movement, but as an opposition figure against Turkish politics.

Threats are not limited to Jharra; her entire family is a victim. In February 2017, she received a threatening message via Facebook that contained a picture of a homicide victim on the ground and it was written and we know how much you love your children and we'll find you.

Threats against her intensified in 2017 as she wrote about Erdogan's alleged efforts to use religious institutions, schools and mosques in the Balkans to expand its influence. A few weeks after the threat to her children, Jarra found an ominous red cross painted by the front door of her apartment. One of her boys saw vandalism when she came home from school.

When she reported on vandalism, she said the police told her, ; if they would kill you, they would have done it. They just want to scare.

Three weeks later, her tormentors did more than try to scare her

In May 2017, Jarra suffered a severe beating in her parking garage, demanding a hotspy. Again, she says, police did nothing to find the authors: ;This sends a message to journalists in my country and around the world. That's what happens when you start investigating.

The attack was reported by several international media, but police never found Jarra's attackers

She now lives in New York with her two children, where she continues to write about Turkey and radical Islam in the Balkans

The EU is underestimating Turkish influence through religious activities and Islamic distributions financed by Erdogan are the centre for radical political mobilization”, Jarra says.

It warns that Americans should be aware of Erdogan's agenda in the United States, while under the Turkish Presidency, the Daynet Centre of America (DCA), a mosque and Islamic centre in Maryland was built outside Washington,

Erdogan's efforts to anger over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi stood in stark contrast to the way he deals with sincere investigative reporting. This week's news of a several-million-dollar mosque to be financed by Turkey in Kosovo confirms the integrity and accuracy of Jarra's reporting and fears of neo-Ottomanism

Arbana Jarra continues to focus on her work despite her threats and attacks, now at home in the United States.

The author of the writing, Julio Rivera, is a political and business strategist, columnist, editorial director for “SETimes” reacter and producer and co-host of America's common Ground television. <