As a heated wave of Muslim Brotherhood criticism hits the group’s leaders living in Turkey, after Ankara having deported a young Egyptian MB member, fundamentalist movement expert Omar Abdel-Moneim said: “there are growing fears within the group of the rest being sacrificed.”
“Turkish authorities may be obliged to hand over all (Muslim Brotherhood members) in Ankara, to appease European Union,” Abdel-Moneim said,
A few days ago, the Turkish authorities deported MB member Mohamed Abdel Hafiz Hussein, who faces a death sentence back home for being involved in the assassination of former Egyptian Attorney General Hisham Barakat.
Following Hussein’s deportation, fear struck deep amidst Egyptian MB members living in political refuge in Turkey. They may face forced deportation to Cairo, where they will be subject to trial, imprisonment and possibly execution.
An Egyptian young man from the Muslim Brotherhood in Istanbul, Nader Fattouh, uploaded a YouTube video confirming that MB leaders have turned their backs on Hussein, stripping him of his membership.
In the video, Fattouh said Turkey-based MB leaders told security authorities at Ataturk airport that the Hussein was not a member of the group nor was guaranteed by one of their leaders, leading up to the young man’s immediate deportation.
Abdel-Moneim, for his part, pointed out that there has been a split within the MB four years ago between founders and youth, and the two generations have contradictory ideas.
As for MB youth concerns about upcoming deportations to Egypt, Abdel-Moneim said: “These fears are in their place, for fear of sacrificing them, and the experience of Mohamed Abdel Hafiz Hussein was very revealing.”
“It is not an indication of abandoning the Brotherhood, but attempts to absolve Turkey of its accusations of terrorism against the European Union by sacrificing some of the Brotherhood,” Abdel-Moneim noted.
