Putin is a Muslim, says Islamist Turkish author

Turkish author Kazim Yurdakul claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has chosen Islam and became Muslim.

Defending his claims by saying that Putin was carrying out pro-Islamic policies, Yurdakul replied a question whether Putin was a Muslim as “Of course he is.”

Yurdakul has made the comments during a live broadcast in Turkey’s Islamic Berat TV on Monday.

“Putin is already known to be a Muslim,” he said, according to pro-government Yeni Akit newspaper.

“We shouldn't be surprised if we see the Gospel of Barnabas in Putin's hands soon, within a maximum of two or three years," Yurdakul said.

In response to another question asking what would that mean, Yurdakul said “Putin showing the Gospel of Barnabas would mean that he’s inviting all Orthodox community to choose Islam”.

The Gospel of Barnabas is a non-canonical gospel which is controversially believed to be written by Saint Barnabas, an early Christian disciple in Jerusalem. According to the gospel that many of its teachings are synchronous with those in the Muslim’s holy book Quran, Barnabas was one of the apostles of Jesus. In the Gospel, Jesus mentions a new messiah who will come after him, where the Islamic belief says Jesus was mentioning prophet Mohammad.