Erdoğan’s advisor turns out to be a chief terrorism backer

Nahla Abdelmonem

The Turkish president’s chief aide, who advises on Turkey’s relations with Arab and Muslim nations, was found to have been a staunch supporter of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, listed by the United Nations Security Council as an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, an investigation by the news site, Nordic Monitor, which focuses on extremism and terrorism, found out.

In a series of articles that appeared mainly in pro-Iran publications in Turkey in the 1990s, Sefer Turan, who now serves as chief advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and influences the country’s foreign policy, defended the terrorist group, justified the murders of civilians and government officials in Egypt and leveled criticism against others who described the Islamic Jihad as a terrorist group and condemned the murders.

For example, writing for Turkish magazine Tevhid, funded by the Iranian secret service, back in September 1992, Turan applauded how the Egyptian Islamic Jihad made huge progress with attacks that claimed the lives of many people.

“When we assess the latest attacks by the Islamic Jihad in Egypt, we can see that they made great progress in tactics and in targeting areas. First and foremost, not a single one of them involved in the attacks got caught,” Turan wrote, adding, “The success that the Islamic Jihad gained in resistance and counterattacks against the police put the Egyptian government in a difficult position in the public eye.”

Sefer described militants who were killed in clashes with Egyptian security services as “martyrs” and claimed that the Egyptian people had lined up behind the organization, did not question the attacks, but, instead, protested against the government when the police launched a crackdown on Islamic Jihad members.

“People took to the streets, torched various government buildings and protested strongly against government policies and the police’s ugly attitude,” he wrote.

The Turkish president’s advisor appeared satisfied with the attacks, saying, “Moreover, the attacks against tourists and the tourism industry, which dealt a huge blow to the country’s economy, put the government in a difficult position.”

In his provocative article, Turan also suggested that Christians in Egypt were aiming to establish their own state, maintain an armed Christian militia and use churches to stockpile weaponry while the Egyptian government simply turned a blind eye to the Christians’ activities.

Instead, he argued, Muslims and Islamic groups showed sensitivity in the matter and had been raising the issue in the public debate.

Adding further to the claims in his article, Erdoğan’s aide wrote that Christians in Egypt were encouraged by Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the time, whom Turan said had good relations with the United States and former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali, a Coptic Christian, and who Turan maintained had family ties to then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Turan concluded his article by saying that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would have a hard time sustaining his government in Egypt amid the challenges, but that only time would tell, expressing hope that the Islamic Jihad would take over the Egyptian government.