Türkiye Revokes Citizenship of Muslim Brotherhood Leader

Joint press conference of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Joint press conference of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Türkiye Revokes Citizenship of Muslim Brotherhood Leader

Joint press conference of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Joint press conference of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Türkiye has revoked the citizenship of Muslim Brotherhood’s Istanbul faction acting leader Mahmoud Hussein.

The government canceled his and his wife’s passports due to violating the conditions of their citizenship.

Sources affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Türkiye revealed that the government, following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to Egypt, also revoked the citizenship of 50 other top officials.

Investigations revealed they had tampered with the conditions of their permits.

In 2022, the Turkish government approved a law granting citizenship in exchange for purchasing a property valued at over $400,000 or depositing amounts in Turkish banks, provided that the real estate or deposits are not disposed of before three years. The property can only be resold to a Turkish citizen.

The law allowed tens of thousands of Arabs and foreigners to buy real estate.

However, it sparked anger among the Turkish opposition, which accused the government of insulting the Turkish passport by granting it in exchange for money to increase the number of votes for the ruling Justice and Development Party.

Over 300,000 Syrians and several Muslim Brotherhood leaders from Egypt were granted exceptional nationalities.

The law has been exploited by some offices and companies that finalize citizenship transactions to commit violations and manipulate the sale of citizenship.

Last May, pressure from the Turkish opposition during the presidential and parliamentary elections prompted the authorities to review the conditions of residents and those holding citizenship.

Sources said that several Egyptians, Syrians, and Russians formed networks that violated the conditions for obtaining citizenship. They explained that the Muslim Brotherhood leader violated the citizenship law.

Hussein obtained the passport after presenting the property as evidence for his wife’s citizenship file, as she resides in the same property. He then sold the property to another foreign citizen, who used it to obtain his citizenship.

Sources close to Hussein told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authorities informed him of the decision without providing reasons.

Brotherhood officials are discussing the issue with the Turkish Presidency and the ruling Justice and Development Party.

Since the start of negotiations to normalize relations with Egypt and entering an advanced stage in 2021, leading to the culmination of these efforts with Erdogan’s visit to Cairo last week, the Turkish authorities imposed restrictions on Brotherhood leaders.

They prevented them from making media statements against Egypt and the Gulf states.

Türkiye also imposed restrictions on the Muslim Brotherhood’s mouthpiece channels, which for about ten years have continued to attack the political leadership and Egyptian authorities and incite violence.

Many of the leaders and workers in these channels left Türkiye, and some channels relocated to London.

After the first meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Erdogan in Doha in late 2022, the Turkish authorities tightened restrictions on granting nationalities and scrutinizing the open residency campaign.

Authorities rejected the citizenship requests of individuals convicted of terrorism cases in Egypt.

Restrictions were tightened significantly after the two countries exchanged ambassadors last year.

Egyptian-Turkish relations entered a new phase after Erdogan visited Cairo, where it was agreed to establish a high-level strategic cooperation council.

During the visit, the two countries signed several agreements and memorandums of understanding, including revitalizing economic and trade cooperation and raising the exchange volume to $15 billion.

Sisi is also scheduled to visit Ankara next April or May.



Protesters Rally Across Spain Against Housing Crisis, Tourist Flats

05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Protesters Rally Across Spain Against Housing Crisis, Tourist Flats

05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Hundreds of thousands marched across 40 Spanish cities on Saturday to protest against soaring rents and a lack of affordable homes in a country that enjoys Europe's fastest economic growth and yet suffers from a severe housing shortage exacerbated by a tourism boom.
Spain's center-left government has struggled to find a balance between attracting tourists and migrants to fill job gaps and keeping rents affordable for average citizens, as short-term rentals have mushroomed in major cities and coastal destinations alike.
"No matter who governs, we must defend housing rights," activists shouted as they rattled keychains in Madrid, where more than 150,000 protesters marched through the capital's center, according to the local tenants' union.
Average Spanish rents have doubled and house prices swelled by 44% over the past decade, data from property website Idealista showed, far outpacing salary growth. Meanwhile, the supply of rentals has halved since the 2020 pandemic.
"They're kicking all of us out to make tourist flats," said Margarita Aizpuru, a 65-year-old resident of the popular Lavapies neighborhood. Nearly 100 families living in her block were told by the building's owners that their rental contracts would not be renewed, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Homeowners associations and experts say that current regulations discourage long-term rentals, and landlords find that renting to tourists or foreigners for days or a couple of months is more profitable and safer.
Spain received a record 94 million tourists in 2024, making it the second most-visited country in the world, as well as an influx of thousands of migrants, both of which are widening a housing deficit of 500,000 homes, the Bank of Spain has said.
According to official data, only about 120,000 new homes are built in Spain every year - a sixth of the levels before the 2008 financial crisis - worsening the already acute supply shortage.
Wendy Davila, 26, said that the problem was not just in the city center, since rents were too high "everywhere".
"It cannot be that to live in Madrid you need to share a flat with four others."