(Link on Daily Trust)
When, a decade ago, the Muslim Brotherhood politicians were
riding the waves of the “Arab Spring” across the Middle East and North Africa
to rise to power, a tacit political alliance somehow developed between them and
the then Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, who later transformed into executive
president in 2014.
Having dominated Turkish politics since
his coming into power in 2003, Erdoğan has pursued geopolitical dominance in
the region. His ability to ride the waves of Muslim emotions with publicity
stunts during and in the aftermath of every major incident of persecution
against vulnerable Muslim communities and his characteristic Islamo-populist
rhetoric earned him immense popularity among unsuspecting Muslims and even many
otherwise discerning pundits for that matter.
Also, his character-switching skills,
which enable him to effortlessly transform from a typical secular politician he
is into an Islamist he claims to be, and vice versa, depending on the
circumstances, enables him to balance up his purported Islamist orientation in
the eyes of his admirers and his secular disposition among his fellow
politicians in regional and global politics.
Anyway, though the Muslim Brotherhood
organization wasn’t the initiator of the “Arab Spring”, its politicians were
the biggest beneficiaries, having risen to power by leveraging their
longstanding popularity among the unsuspecting general public who fell for
their purported Islamist agenda.
President Erdoğan had seen in them
potential governments in their respective countries, which he could manipulate
in pursuit of his geopolitical ambitions. While, on their part, they saw in him
a reliable patron who could be instrumental in their struggle against the deep
state in their respective countries and facilitate their integration into
mainstream politics on the global stage.
Soon, influential media organizations
linked to the Muslim brotherhood, especially the Aljazeera network, embarked on
the systematic idolization of Erdoğan in a well-crafted narrative.
All along, President Erdoğan has been
particularly interested in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, being the umbrella
organization that all its offshoots and other like-minded groups in the region
and beyond look up to.
The first post-“Arab Spring” election in
2012 that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to the presidency in Egypt under
former President Mohammad Mursi was a dream come true for the organization.
Besides, considering the geopolitical significance of Egypt as the most
populous Arab country and indeed one of the most influential in the region, the
Muslim Brotherhood was well-positioned to engineer similar political momentum
in other countries for their offshoots there to equally get power.
Though over the past decade, all the
Muslim Brotherhood parties in power have lost out through either political
process or military takeover, their loss of Egypt following the 2013 military
takeover was particularly frustrating to Erdoğan. Since then, he literally went
berserk sparing no effort to vilify and instigate the international community
against the Egyptian authorities. He also opened up Turkey for the Muslim
Brotherhood members from Egypt and elsewhere who soon adopted the country as
their exile headquarters. He also enabled them to set up satellite television
channels and other media outlets that unleashed a systematic and concerted
campaign of disparagement and incitement against the Egyptian authorities and
other Arab governments especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
President Erdoğan, also, rode the waves
of the backslash against the Kingdom over the murder of the Saudi journalist,
Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018, inside its Consulate in Istanbul, to embark on the
vilification of the Kingdom.
Of course, Turkish relationships with
Egypt and Saudi Araba consequently deteriorated very badly, affecting trade and
economic ties, especially with Saudi Arabia whose businesses suspended
importation from Turkey while Saudis’ investments there took a nosedive,
worsening the country’s already struggling economy. The situation is further
compounded by Erdoğan’s equally deteriorating relationships with other
countries including some major European economies e.g., Germany and
France.
Meanwhile, the general public in Turkey
has been increasingly frustrated amid worsening economic conditions, which
President Erdoğan has repeatedly vowed to arrest but failed.
The 2019 local election in Turkey proved
the extent of that frustration when, despite his alliance with other parties
and a controversial change in the electoral law that allegedly favoured his
party, President Erdoğan’s party suffered a huge setback, losing important
cities to the opposition including Istanbul and Ankara, Turkish largest city
and capital respectively.
President Erdoğan realised the potential
implications of the situation on his re-election bid in the 2023 general
election, especially considering the results of the 2019 local election.
Since last year, therefore, he embarked
on mending fences with Saudi Arabia to thereafter normalize trade and economic
ties with it and hopefully secure some bailout to ease the persistent financial
crunch in his country. By the way, Saudi Arabia does some friendly countries in
need such a favour. Anyway, he equally reached out to Egypt to normalize
diplomatic relations with it.
Meanwhile, he had already begun gradual
abandonment of the Muslim Brotherhood by imposing restrictions on their
operations in Turkey that leave them with no option but to leave the country.
For instance, he ordered their television channels to stop their campaign of
vilification against Egypt and shut down some of them altogether.
Erdoğan also abandoned the Khashoggi
murder case, handed it over to Saudi Arabia, and turned from an aggressive
critic of the Kingdom into Saudi-friendly. He even visited the Kingdom on an
official visit and received its Crown Prince, Ibn Salam, on a similar visit to
Turkey.
Meanwhile, many Muslim Brotherhood
elements have already left Turkey as others explore their options and next
destinations.
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