Türkiye has been cooperating with Egypt against the revival of the terrorist activities by the Muslim Brotherhood (Brotherhood), especially in Jordan and Egypt. On July 20 the Egyptian Interior Ministry issued a statement on a clash between security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood-linked terrorist Hasm movement, which left two terrorists dead and foiled a plot to carry out terror attacks throughout Egypt.
When the Brotherhood lost power in Egypt with the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the Brotherhood was given refuge in Türkiye by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who broke relations with Egypt following Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s ascent to power.. But this has changed, since the two countries reestablished relations almost two years ago. Egypt’s el-Sisi had demanded a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood as their price for re-establishing relations. Türkiye also wanted to improve relations with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have banned the Brotherhood.
At Egypt’s request, Türkiye arrested Hasm leader Mohamed Abdel Hafiz as he tried to enter Türkiye after the shootout between Hasm terrorists and Egyptian security forces. The arrest was just the latest movement Türkiye has made against the Brotherhood since it re-established relations with Egypt.
Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a former deputy foreign minister and current member of the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council, called the arrest “a strong signal that Türkiye does not want any doubt over its intentions towards its Arab neighbors and their national security concerns. The arrest shows that both sides are prioritizing their renewed ties. Neither Egypt nor Türkiye is interested in returning to the discord of previous years…. Hundreds had their Turkish nationalities revoked and the most prominent have left Türkiye over the past few years, with many of the country’s media personalities now being in London and several European cities.”
At the end of last year, Turkish authorities revoked the Turkish citizenship (and passport) they had given to Mahmoud Hussein, acting supreme guide of the Istanbul Front, and put him under close observation.
While Türkiye had been a way-station for the Muslim Brotherhood, London has always been its headquarters where it enjoys de facto protection of His Majesty’s government, a fact the EIR has documented since the beginning of the 1980s.
In Jordan the Muslim Brotherhood was banned according to a government announcements just last April, following the April 23 raid on the offices of its political arm, the Islamic Action Front. It also follows the arrest of several members on suspicion of planning rocket and drone attacks. All its offices were closed and its assets confiscated.
