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.



Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.