The Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), an Turkish organization tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood, has announced an International Syria Conference that was scheduled for January 26 in Istanbul. According to the announcement:
The Union of NGOs of the Islamic World is holding International Syria Conference on January 26, 2013 in Istanbul Gonen Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey. The conference will discuss the political, legal and humanitarian aspects of the 22 months long crisis in Syria. Besides representatives from Syrian National Coalition (SNC), academicians, think tanks, specialists, journalists will analyze the developments in Syria in various sessions.
Earlier posts have described the Syrian opposition umbrella group known as the National Coalition and the dominant influence of the Muslim Brotherhood within the group. A report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) describes the UNIW as follows:
The Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW) was founded in 2005 by TGTV to coordinate Islamist NGOs on a global level and includes many important organizations tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood including the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), and the Muslim Brotherhoods of Bahrain, Algeria, and Israel. UNIW also includes IHH, MÜSI? D, HIKMET, and FIDDER, discussed below.
According to the JCPA report, the UNIW was one of a network of Turkish organizations tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood that played a significant role in the prelude to the June 2010 Gaza Flotilla incident that saw a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces.
A post from last December 2007 discussed another UNIW conference in Istanbul titled the “International Conference On Islamophobia” that featured a large number of prominent speakers with ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood including:
- Ahmed Von Denffer (Germany)
- Anwar Ibrahim (Malaysia)
- Iqbal Sacranie (U.K)
- John Esposito (U.S)
- Lord Nazim Ahmed (U.K.)
- Louay Safi (U.S.)
- Merve Safa Kavakci (U.S.)
- Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland)
- Sulayman Nyang (U.S.)
Also scheduled to speak at that conference was William Baker ,head of the Christians and Muslims For Peace, whose anti-Semitic and far-right extremist background has been explored by local media. In recent years, Baker has been a guest at events hosted by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Student Association.