Erdogan-Muslim Brotherhood alliance: Between patronage and betrayal

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 […]

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 organisation 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 organisations linked to the Muslim brotherhood, especially the Aljazeera network, embarked on the systematic idolisation of Erdoğan in a well-crafted narrative.  

All along, President Erdoğan has been particularly interested in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, being the umbrella organisation 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 organisation. 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. 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 backlash 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.  

Since last year, therefore, he embarked on mending fences with Saudi Arabia to thereafter normalise 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 normalise 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.