Muslim Brotherhood Members in Ankara Fear the Turkish-Egyptian Rapprochement

Women gather for support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi near the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (File photo: Reuters)
Women gather for support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi near the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (File photo: Reuters)
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Muslim Brotherhood Members in Ankara Fear the Turkish-Egyptian Rapprochement

Women gather for support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi near the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (File photo: Reuters)
Women gather for support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi near the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (File photo: Reuters)

The young members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization fear "upcoming scenarios" after recent reports about the Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement, while the leadership ignores the situation, according to a number of experts in Egypt.

The experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that if the Turkish authorities began deporting some wanted young men to Cairo, within the framework of rapprochement, those who do not have the support of the leaders will be sent back home.

Expert on fundamentalist movements Amr Abdel Moneim asserted that the youth of the Brotherhood are in a state of confusion and uncertainty.

Abdel Moneim believes that Turkey’s decision to oblige anti-Cairo channels to adhere to media charters has kept Brotherhood youth in disarray.

Some of them believe the channels will be shut down permanently, or members will be handed over to Egypt, as happened in February 2019 with Mohammad Abdel Hafeez.

On the possibility of deporting young people and some leaders in the coming period, Abdel Moneim explained that about a year ago, many Egyptians obtained exceptional nationalities or permanent residencies. However, there remains the issue of the members with death sentences, whom Cairo wants, according to the expert.

He estimated there are 8,000 Muslim Brotherhood members in Turkey with their families, and about 3,000 activists.

Abdel Moneim suggested three scenarios for the future of the Brotherhood’s members and their channels in Turkey in light of the rapprochement with Cairo.

The first is not to create issues for the Turkish authorities with Egypt, the second is to find alternatives in other countries, and the third is an individual departure to Canada, the Netherlands, or Malaysia, or a mass departure to countries that are working to have them under an intelligence framework, such as Iran and Malaysia.

Brotherhood leaders believe that Turkish citizenship and media positions can no longer protect them.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Zaghloul, a researcher specializing in fundamentalist movements in Egypt, indicated that the developments of the Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement threaten the youth of the organization in Ankara, especially those who don't enjoy cover from any leader.

In the latest signs of rapprochement between Ankara and Cairo, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that a senior Turkish diplomatic delegation will visit Cairo in May.

Zaghloul described Turkey's decision to oblige media to adhere to the charters as instructions to control the Muslim Brotherhood media only.

He indicated that deportation has always been an issue for young members because the leaders have their personal arrangements. It is likely that if the youths are sent back, they will not include those who are supported by the leaders.

A large number of prominent Brotherhood youth are sentenced to life imprisonment or hard labor, and the leaders will not hand them over. Many of them have obtained Turkish residency and have established a network of international relations that may provide protection, especially with human rights organizations.

Zaghloul indicated that the Brotherhood channels will work to control its rhetoric in the coming period, and the leaders will try to use international relations to achieve gains.

A number of the organization’s youth in Ankara complain that the leadership has completely abandoned them, after they were promised to obtain identification papers that enable them to travel outside the country, according to observers.



Syrian Army Reports ‘Large-Scale’ Drone Attack on Bases Near Iraq Border

People inspect the site of a destroyed wheat warehouse following the downing of drones near the US base in Qasrak, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in the Hasakeh countryside, Syria, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
People inspect the site of a destroyed wheat warehouse following the downing of drones near the US base in Qasrak, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in the Hasakeh countryside, Syria, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syrian Army Reports ‘Large-Scale’ Drone Attack on Bases Near Iraq Border

People inspect the site of a destroyed wheat warehouse following the downing of drones near the US base in Qasrak, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in the Hasakeh countryside, Syria, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)
People inspect the site of a destroyed wheat warehouse following the downing of drones near the US base in Qasrak, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in the Hasakeh countryside, Syria, March 29, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's military said a large-scale drone attack targeted its bases near the border with Iraq on Monday, the biggest such incident since the start of the Middle East war.

The army reported "a large-scale attack by a number of drones targeting several army bases near the Iraqi border at dawn today", adding that most of the drones were intercepted.

"We are studying our options and will respond appropriately to neutralize any threat and prevent any aggression against Syrian territory."

On Sunday, assistant defense minister for eastern Syria, Sipan Hamo, said four drones from Iraq attacked a US base in Syria's Qasrak, but were intercepted.

It was not immediately clear who had launched the attack. One possibility was that pro-Iran groups in Iraq were behind it.

"We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability," Hamo said.

A day prior, Syria's army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq targeting Al-Tanf, a base which used to house US forces.

Another base in northeastern Syria was targeted last week. An Iraqi official said an Iraqi faction was behind the attack, and four people were arrested in connection with it.

In recent months in Syria, American forces have withdrawn from the Al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and had begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also in Hasakeh.

Since the outbreak of the Middle East war, which began with a US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said he is working to keep his country out of any conflict.

Iraq was pulled into the war, with pro-Iran Iraqi groups having claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.


Israeli Fire Kills Four in Gaza and the West Bank

Relatives mourn the death of a loved one who was reportedly killed in an overnight Israeli strike, during the funeral of several victims at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
Relatives mourn the death of a loved one who was reportedly killed in an overnight Israeli strike, during the funeral of several victims at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
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Israeli Fire Kills Four in Gaza and the West Bank

Relatives mourn the death of a loved one who was reportedly killed in an overnight Israeli strike, during the funeral of several victims at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
Relatives mourn the death of a loved one who was reportedly killed in an overnight Israeli strike, during the funeral of several victims at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

An Israeli air strike killed at least three people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, local health officials said, in the latest round of violence since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect more than five months ago.

Medics said three people were killed and two others wounded when an Israeli plane fired a missile at a group of Palestinians near the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

More than 72,000 ‌people have been ‌killed since the war started in ‌October ⁠2023. Israel is now ⁠also waging a war, alongside the US, against Iran, and is carrying out a new campaign against Hezbollah in which Israeli forces have invaded southern Lebanon.

Violence in Gaza has persisted despite the ceasefire and amid Israel's war with Iran. Health officials in the ⁠territory say at least 50 Palestinians have ‌been killed by Israeli ‌forces since the Iran conflict began a month ago. In the Israeli-occupied ‌West Bank, health officials said Israeli forces shot ‌and killed a 22-year-old man near the city of Hebron. They added that soldiers took the body away.

Palestinian security sources identified the dead man as Ramzi Awawada and accused ‌Israeli soldiers of leaving him to bleed to death and preventing rescuers from reaching ⁠him.

The Israeli ⁠military said forces shot and killed a Palestinian who ran towards them holding a knife. Rights groups and medics say Israeli settlers are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed during the Iran war to attack Palestinians in the West Bank, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances from reaching victims quickly.

Settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank since the conflict began on February 28, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.


Türkiye Signals Possible Intervention in Northern Iraq over Kurdish Role in Iran War

Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
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Türkiye Signals Possible Intervention in Northern Iraq over Kurdish Role in Iran War

Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 

Türkiye has signaled it could launch a military intervention in northern Iraq similar to its operations in Syria if Kurdish militants join ground fighting inside Iran, Turkish sources said.

The warning targets fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Iranian affiliate, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), should they take part in operations in western Iran, allegedly with Israeli backing.

Since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, Ankara has warned multiple parties against plans to deploy Kurdish militants in the conflict, the sources said.

The pro-government daily Turkiye reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump in a phone call shortly after the war began that Türkiye would not accept the use of “terrorist organizations” in attacks on Iran, stressing its clear position on territorial integrity.

Turkish foreign ministry and intelligence delegations later conveyed a message to officials in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region: “We will intervene as we did in Syria,” the sources added.

Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan also warned the group’s leadership in Iraq’s Qandil mountains against being “deceived by Israel’s game”, a message that sources said shifted regional dynamics.

Analysts linked Ankara’s stance to remarks by Trump, who praised Türkiye’s conduct during the conflict.

“I think Türkiye was great — they were really amazing and stayed within the bounds we asked of them,” Trump said at a summit in Miami, while Erdogan described him as a “great leader”.

Political analyst Murat Yetkin said the remarks reflected US appreciation for Türkiye’s role in preventing direct confrontation between Israel and NATO.

He noted that NATO had intercepted missiles heading towards Turkish airspace, reinforced its air defenses with Patriot systems, and stepped up military coordination — signaling a new phase in Türkiye-NATO ties.

Yetkin said any attack on Türkiye would likely trigger a NATO response before Ankara acts, including against threats from the south and east.

He added that Washington may be seeking to keep Türkiye out of a direct conflict with Israel that could escalate into a broader crisis involving the alliance.