Turkey arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader, boosting Egypt ties
Turkey recently arrested a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who is wanted in Egypt, signalling a growing commitment to strengthening relations with Cairo, according to experts, The National reported on July 22nd.
Turkish police detained Mohamed Abdel Hafiz at Istanbul Airport on the night of July 21st. Hafiz is suspected to have orchestrated terrorist attacks in Egypt, including the assassination of the prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat in 2016, and a 2022 plot to target President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s plane.
He is also allegedly a key architect of the recent return in Egypt of the Hasm Movement, an armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood that has a history of numerous attacks on Egyptian government officials. Hasm operatives have been almost entirely inactive since a 2019 crackdown on the Brotherhood.
However, Turkey’s arrest of Hafiz came just after the Egyptian Interior Ministry revealed that police had executed a pre-emptive security operation in which police successfully thwarted a planned terror attack by Hasm operatives. The raid was conducted following intelligence which revealed that Hasm militants had vowed to renew “hostile operations” in Egypt.
Two militants and one civilian were killed in the raid which averted a plot to attack “civil and economic institutions.” According to the interior ministry, the raid occurred on July 7th but was only made public on July 20th. The ministry also released a list of five Muslim Brotherhood leaders residing in Turkey, including Hafiz, who it accused of planning the thwarted attacks.
Hafiz’s wife confirmed the arrest had occurred on a statement posted to her Facebook page, which also said that Hafiz would be extradited to Egypt. The rapid arrest of the suspect by Turkey has been interpreted as a signal from Ankara that it is serious about its rapprochement with Cairo. The commitment to stronger ties is mutual, with Egypt working to boost transport sector cooperation with Turkey.
Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a current member of the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Council and former deputy foreign minister, called the arrest “a strong signal that Turkey does not want any doubt over its intentions towards its Arab neighbours and their national security concerns.”
The recent events come amid a recent reconciliation between Egypt and Turkey that has come after years of difficult relations, most notably due to Ankara’s backing of the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sisi proscribed the group as a terrorist organisation following the military’s toppling of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, who was the Brotherhood’s candidate.
Hassan stated that “the arrest shows that both sides are prioritising their renewed ties. Neither Egypt nor Turkey is interested in returning to the discord of previous years.”
Turkey’s arrest of a major Brotherhood figure represents part of a broader shift in its position towards the organisation that it once offered refuge and a platform to. According to Hassan, Ankara began to gradually roll back its support for the Brotherhood in 2022 amid an economic downturn and a need to mend ties with Gulf states.
“Turkey has already taken great steps to limit the influence of the Brotherhood and its reach,” he said. “Hundreds had their Turkish nationalities revoked and the most prominent have left Turkey over the past few years, with many of the country’s media personalities now being in London and several European cities.”
Moreover, Hassan said that the reconciliation has been a gradual process, involving numerous instances of shrewd political manoeuvring. So neither side would want to unravel such rigorous work over “meaningless remnants of a once-powerful force.”
“Even when political ties were strained, Turkish companies continued operating in Egypt. Trade and financial relations have remained steady since the 2006 free trade agreement,” he explained.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in a June speech that both nations wish to widen bilateral trade from $9 billion to $15 billion.
Despite the interpretation of Hafiz’s arrest as a goodwill gesture from Ankara, uncertainty is circulating as to whether Turkey will honour Egypt’s full demands and extradite him, alongside other wanted Brotherhood members, so they are prosecuted.
An Egyptian security official who spoke to The National revealed that up to now, Turkey had refused to hand over several high-calibre Brotherhood figures despite evidence of their involvement in hostile operations against Egyptian officials.
However, following Egypt’s security operation on July 7th, Cairo has received strong indications that Ankara is willing to co-operate. The official said that “this is a significant shift from the years when Turkey actively sheltered Brotherhood leaders and allowed its soil to be used as a base for anti-Egyptian activities.”
The National, BBC, Maghrebi.org
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