Qatar harbors Sudan’s Brotherhood and transports them to Turkey

Mustafa Kamel

Qatar has been providing a safe haven for the Brotherhood following the terrorist group’s resounding fall in many Arab countries, foremost of which was the removal of Mohamed Morsi from power in Egypt with the revolution of June 30, 2013, after which many Brotherhood elements fled to Sudan, the Brotherhood’s last bastion of power. Doha resorted to providing the Brotherhood with the necessary protection and supporting the regime of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, but after his downfall in popular protests in April 2019, it provided them with safe passage to Turkey.

Unlimited protection

Since Morsi’s removal in Egypt in 2013, Doha has attached great importance to the Brotherhood members, especially those fleeing to Sudan from Egypt, by ensuring full protection for them and seeking to place them in Khartoum to support Bashir and help his government hold together in the face of the Arab Spring storm to prevent his overthrow. Sudan was considered the last bastion for Islamists in the Arab world after their failure to push the Brotherhood to rule or maintain their positions in multiple Arab countries. The fall of the Brotherhood regime in Egypt was a major setback to the Qatari project, and then Sudan also shattered Doha’s hopes of providing a safe environment for the terrorist group after Bashir’s regime was overthrown in April 2019.

Doha has largely sought to protect the last bastion of Brotherhood rule in Sudan and made it the largest incubator for the group’s members after losing their positions in many Arab arenas. These members had become wanted by security services on issues related to terrorism, as many of the group’s second-class leaders moved to live in Sudan, with Qatar sponsoring them and funding them provided they stay there in light of the difficulty of transferring them to Turkey from Egypt. This now includes a large number of the group’s leaders and their families who traveled before Egypt imposed travel restrictions to Turkey, as prior security approval became required to travel to Ankara in December 2014.

Insurance transfer

Doha provided safe passage to the Sudanese Brotherhood after the fall of Bashir’s rule, hailing to go to Turkey to facilitate the transport of individuals, families and money of the Sudanese fleeing from Khartoum to Ankara, through an organized network led by a large oil investor and two Sudanese who hold Turkish citizenship, in addition to the son of a prominent Brotherhood member. Another group including Turks and Arabs who have close ties with the Turkish and Qatari regimes and the international Brotherhood organization also helped, according to Sky News Arabia.

Turkey has received approximately 17 prominent Brotherhood members from Sudan in recent months since the overthrow of Bashir’s Brotherhood regime in April 2019 following protests that lasted for more than five months and demanded his removal from power. Among those received by Turkey were Omar al-Bashir’s brothers Abbas and Abdullah, who have strong ties with the Turkish regime and its right arm in Sudan, Oktay Ercan, who had an arrest warrant issued against him in Khartoum, in addition to facilitating the transfer of five former ministers and officials of Bashir’s security services.