Despotic Erdogan Regime Seeks Ummah Leadership at Home and Abroad

In the closing days of 2017, the pro-HAMAS Turkish government under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) dealt yet another blow to the rule of law in Turkey with a decree that legalizes vigilante action by anyone against anyone—so long as it’s characterized as counterterrorism. On 24 December 2017, Erdogan and his AK Party implemented Article 121 of the state of emergency decree 696 which states the following: “Individuals, regardless of whether or not they possess an official title or whether or not they are discharging official duties, who are engaged in suppressing the attempted 15 July 2016 coup, terrorist actions or other actions that are continuations of these will be subject to the first paragraph (of Article 37 which was published in November 2016).”

And here is what the first paragraph of Article 37 says: “with regard to the suppression of the attempted 15 July 2016 coup, terrorist actions or other actions that are continuations of these, this decision absolves all those who make decisions or enact measures, as well as those who conduct duties with regard to all types of judicial and administrative measures and who make decisions and discharge duties within the framework of decisions with the force of law (KHK) that are published as part of the state of emergency, from legal, administrative, financial and penal responsibility.”

In other words, the Turkish government—a supposed NATO ally—has just granted impunity to Erdogan loyalists to take the law into their own hands when and how they see fit, to assault, injure, even kill anyone deemed a “terrorist.” The decree is an open invitation to individuals, AKP paramilitary groups, and thugs claiming to be acting in response to the 2016 attempted coup to go after any and all political enemies. Who may be the targets of such incitement to violence? Christians, Jews, Kurds, and any who may be labelled “Gulenists” or traitors are left completely vulnerable by this decree.

The Turkish decree immediately follows declarations by Erdogan (speaking to the Turkish parliament) and other Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) representatives during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) discussion on 21 December 2017 that Jerusalem is their “red line,” followed by a lopsided vote to condemn the United States government (USG) and the Trump administration for daring to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While Erdogan rules increasingly as a despot, irony characterizes the following statement from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who attempts to stand on moral high ground in condemning the USG recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital: “This decision is an outrageous assault to all universal values…this is bullying…we will not be intimated…you can be strong, but this doesn’t make you right.” Once again, Erdogan’s AKP regime is stepping forward on the international stage to present itself as the leading voice of the OIC if not actual leader of the global Muslim ummah.

In a 20 December 2017 article from the Center for Security Policy, “Turkey’s Erdogan Declared Ummah Leader at DC Muslim Brotherhood Rally Condemning Trump Recognition of Jerusalem,” leadership of the United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a Muslim Brotherhood umbrella group, openly hailed Erdogan as “My President, your president, president of the ummah Recep Tayyip Erdogan.” Erdogan’s own cousin, Halil Mutlu, who was a keynote speaker at the rally, called for fidelity of all Muslims (including American Muslims) to Erdogan as the leader of the ummah. As has been noted in these spaces before, USCMO Secretary General Oussama Jammal and other US Brotherhood leaders such as CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) Executive Director, Nihad Awad, have developed a close strategic relationship with President Erdogan and AK Party leaders, who likewise are HAMAS-Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

Looking back to 2014, the year that the Brotherhood’s USCMO was founded in the U.S., we will recall from the USCMO’s Press Release Page “Witnessing Turkish Democracy in Action,” how clearly the USCMO announced its partnership with Erdogan and the Turkish AK Party, even as it now moves into a full-fledged Islamic jihad partnership with them:

“The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) was invited to attend a conference by the Turkish Development and Justice Party (AK Party). The USCMO delegation also attended elections of new chairman and was able to witness Turkish democracy at work. The conference, considered to be an extraordinary event by members of the AK Party, was held in honor of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, its founder and chairman, to bid him a special farewell after being elected President of Turkey. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu was elected the new chairman of the AK Party. Witnessing this fascinating democratic process was as uplifting and inspiring as feeling the shared sentiment among party members. The US Council of Muslim Organizations was represented by Oussama Jammal, Secretary General; Naeem Baig, ICNA president, and Osama Abu-Irshaid, AMP National Director.”

Picture from USCMO website. Left to right: Osama Abu-Irshaid (National Director, American Muslims for Palestine, USCMO founding member), Oussama Jammal (USCMO Secretary General) and Naeem Baig (President, Islamic Circle of North America, USCMO founding member)

That partnership comes into even clearer focus if we view this relationship through the lens of the domestic Muslim Brotherhood’s longstanding mission found in its Explanatory Memorandum (1991, page 4 of 18):

“The general strategic goal of the Group in America … is the “Enablement of Islam in North America, meaning: establishing an effective and stable Islamic Movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood which adopts Muslims’ causes domestically and globally … presents a civilization alternative, and supports the global Islamic State wherever it is.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with USCMO Muslim Brotherhood leadership September 2016

As with the 2015 publication of our Star Spangled Shariah monograph, the Center for Security Policy once again issues an alert, this time to the Trump administration, and especially its Intelligence Community, National Security Council and State Department leadership: the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood/USCMO is moving into an ever-closer jihad alliance with the Turkish President Erdogan and his AK Party. That relationship is brazenly pursued on American soil, with the Lanham, Maryland Turkish Islamic Center as its hub of operations. Its purpose is openly declared: to advance the establishment of a global Islamic State under rule of Islamic Law (shariah).

The December 2017 National Security Strategy of the United States boldly declared that our first “fundamental responsibility is to protect the American people, the homeland, and the American way of life.” It also speaks of defeating our jihadist enemies: the Islamic Movement, dedicated to replacement of the U.S. Constitution with shariah and represented by the Erdogan regime, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the USCMO, is waging civilization jihad against us here in the homeland. It is time to call out, confront, and vanquish this threat.