Muslim Brotherhood unthinkingly supports Erdogan: Turkish opposition figure

CAIRO - 9 October 2019: Turkish opposition figure Turgutoğlu, frequently hosted by Egyptian media, on Wednesday confirmed that the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey showed great support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the attacks on Syrian territories.

In an interview with Egypt Today, Turgutoğlu said that the Muslim Brotherhood group, designated by the Egyptian state since 2013 as a terrorist organization, should have defended the Arab territories instead of Turkey.

"The [Muslim] Brotherhood are with (supporting) Erdogan in everything, even if he [announced] antagonizing Islam, they will be the first to support it," Turgutoğlu asserted.

Turgutoğlu said that no Muslim Brotherhood member will ever openly criticize the Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria.

Many major countries condemned the Turkish attacks on Syrian territory, warning of the consequences, including the United States, Russia and many European countries.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday affirmed the country's strong condemnation of the Turkish aggression against the Syrian territory and Syria's sovereignty.

The ministry, in a statement, called for an emergency meeting of the League of Arab States to discuss these developments and review ways to preserve Syria's sovereignty and the unity of its people and territorial integrity.

The ministry called the Turkish attacks "blatant" and "unacceptable," and denounced violations against the sovereignty of a brotherly Arab state, "while taking advantage of the circumstances and the current developments it experiences, and in contravention of the rules of international law."

The statement highlighted the responsibility of the international community, represented by the Security Council, towards addressing this "extremely dangerous development that threatens international peace and security."

The ministry called on the Security Council also to stop any efforts that aim at occupying the Syrian territory and attempts to make demographic changes in northeastern Syria.

The statement warned of the repercussions of the Turkish move on the unity and territorial integrity of Syria or the course of the political process in the Arab state in accordance with Security Council Resolution no. 2254.