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FIRST ON FOX: A brand new report is elevating considerations about Turkey’s role within the Center East, arguing that underneath President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the nation has moved away from its conventional Western alignment and towards deeper engagement with Islamist actions, together with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies report, led by senior fellow Sinan Ciddi and titled “Islamist Domination of Turkey: A Ahead Base for Muslim Brotherhood-Aligned Jihadism,” argues that Turkey has ties to Hamas — the U.S.-designated terrorist group chargeable for the Oct. 7 bloodbath — in addition to to the Muslim Brotherhood — an Islamist motion whose associates have not too long ago been designated as terrorist organizations by the USA — putting Turkey’s insurance policies underneath renewed scrutiny because it prepares to host a NATO summit.
Ciddi informed Fox Information Digital the shift displays a broader transformation in how Turkey defines threats.
“What we’ve is Turkey has fully rewritten the foundations of the way you interpret what a jihadist terrorist entity could also be,” Ciddi stated. “Erdoğan has reinvented what’s interpreted as a terrorist entity … teams akin to Hamas or al-Nusra fall into line along with his pan-Islamist view of the world.”
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and then-Chairman of Hamas Khaled Mashal (L) shake palms on the Historic Mabeyn Palace in Istanbul, Turkey on June 24, 2016. (Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Company/Getty Pictures)
Hamas presence attracts scrutiny
A central focus of the report is Turkey’s relationship with Hamas, which the USA designates as a terrorist group, and but Hamas expanded its presence in Turkey after 2011, establishing places of work and networks contained in the nation.
“From 2011 onward … Hamas used this chance within Turkey with a pleasant authorities to ascertain places of work, have interaction in recruitment (and) fundraising,” Ciddi stated.
U.S. authorities have taken motion towards a few of these networks. The Treasury Division has designated Hamas-linked people and entities working in Turkey, some extent Ciddi stated underscores longstanding considerations.
“America Treasury has been monitoring and designating Hamas-affiliated NGOs and people within Turkey,” he stated.
The report additionally alleges that some Hamas operatives have been in a position to journey utilizing Turkish-issued paperwork and that senior figures have been publicly acquired by Erdoğan.
Past Hamas, the report describes Turkey as a hub for Muslim Brotherhood figures from throughout the area, together with Egypt and Yemen, lots of whom relocated there following crackdowns of their dwelling nations.
Throughout components of the Arab world, the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned or restricted for years.
Egypt outlawed the motion in 2013, accusing it of inciting unrest and undermining state establishments. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates later designated it a terrorist group, describing it as a menace to nationwide stability, whereas Bahrain adopted an identical stance.
Jordan dissolved its native chapter this yr following arrests authorities stated had been linked to illicit weapons exercise.
Some European nations even have taken steps focusing on networks linked to the motion.
Austria, for instance, has pursued authorized motion towards people and organizations it says are linked to Brotherhood-linked exercise as a part of its counter-extremism insurance policies.
Officers in these nations have argued that the Brotherhood operates via a mixture of non secular outreach, political activism, charitable organizations and media platforms to affect public opinion and problem state authority.
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Folks protest in help of Palestinians in Gaza throughout a protest rally in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 17, 2024, amid the continued battle between Israel and Hamas. (Khalil Hamra/The Related Press )
Syria coverage and sanctions questions
The report additionally examines Turkey’s role in Syria, the place the nation backed opposition forces throughout the civil battle, supporting a variety of armed factions, together with teams that later shaped the Syrian Nationwide Military.
“The Syrian Nationwide Military … was a hodgepodge assortment of militias that Turkey instantly armed, paid and arranged,” he stated.
The report hyperlinks Turkish help to teams akin to al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, elevating questions amongst analysts about whether or not such ties might expose Turkish officers to potential sanctions underneath U.S. legislation.
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U.S. President Donald Trump (R) delivers remarks throughout a gathering with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the Oval Workplace on the White Home on Sept. 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
A balancing act with Washington
Regardless of these considerations, different analysts say Turkey’s relationship with the USA continues to behave as a constraint on its habits, whereas the connection between Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been characterised by renewed belief, with Trump praising Erdoğan’s position in Gaza diplomacy.
As Trump celebrated the Gaza ceasefire settlement in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in October 2025, he singled out one chief for extraordinary reward — Erdoğan, whose management he credited for serving to ship the Gaza ceasefire.
“A man who’s been a pal of mine for a very long time. I don’t know why I just like the powerful individuals higher than the smooth, straightforward ones,” Trump stated about Erdoğan on the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in October 2025. “This gentleman from a spot known as Turkey is without doubt one of the strongest on the planet … He’s a troublesome cookie — however he’s my pal.”
Hişyar Özsoy, a Turkish politician and tutorial, described the connection between Erdoğan and Trump as “transactional,” noting Washington usually depends on Turkey for regional coordination.
In a coverage webinar hosted by the Jerusalem Institute for Technique and Safety, Turkish tutorial Hüseyin Bağcı emphasised that Ankara stays carefully tied to Washington.
“The Turkish state is just not thinking about preventing with Israel as a result of the Turkish authorities has excellent relations with (the) United States of America,” he stated. “You can’t be good with America after which be in battle with Israel.”
Bağcı additionally steered Turkey has at occasions limited Islamist actors domestically.
“Right this moment do you hear something about” the Muslim Brotherhood, he stated. “No … as a result of the president stated cease.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, left, shakes palms with Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, proper, as NATO Secretary Common Jens Stoltenberg appears to be like on previous to a gathering forward of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday, July 10, 2023. (Yves Herman, Pool Photograph by way of AP)
NATO ally underneath strain
Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, stays a key companion for the USA, offering logistical entry, navy capabilities and diplomatic attain.
However Ciddi argued Turkey’s present trajectory more and more diverges from alliance priorities.
“There may be a longtime observe document … the place Turkey considerably undermines the transatlantic alliance’s core safety considerations,” he stated.
He pointed to U.S. sanctions on Turkish entities accused of supplying dual-use items to Russia, in addition to Ankara’s broader technique of sustaining ties with competing powers.
Iran and regional positioning
So far as Turkey’s positioning itself amid tensions with Iran, Ciddi stated Turkey is more likely to favor a weakened Iranian regime slightly than a whole collapse that might produce a extra pro-Western authorities.
“A weakened Iranian regime is Erdoğan’s most secure wager,” he stated.
Bağcı supplied an identical evaluation of the rivalry.
“Iran is just not an enemy of Turkey, however not essentially its greatest pal. Turkey and Iran are two regional rivals,” he stated.
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On this Might 30, 2015, file photograph, supporters of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and prime minister and chief of the Justice and Improvement Occasion (AKP), Ahmet Davutoglu, some holding Turkish flags, wait for his or her look in Istanbul throughout a rally to commemorate the anniversary of town’s conquest by the Ottoman Turks. As extremist violence and political uncertainty solid a shadow over Turkey, voters are searching for the parliamentary election to usher in stability. (AP Photograph/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Wanting forward
The report recommends potential U.S. coverage responses, together with sanctions and elevated scrutiny of Turkey’s monetary system, steps that might reshape relations between Washington and Ankara.
Fox Information Digital reached out a number of occasions to the Turkish authorities and to the State Division for remark however didn’t obtain a response in time for publication.
