The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has announced that the keynote speaker for its fourth annual Muslim Leadership Dinner was the Vice Chairman of the AKP (Justice and Development Party of Turkey). According to the announcement:
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) held its fourth annual Muslim Leadership Dinner last night, where 400 distinguished guests including community leaders, Imams, diplomats, business leaders and politicians gathered to celebrate the contribution of Muslim charities in UK to International development. In his welcome speech, Farooq Murad, Secretary General of the MCB, spoke about the Muslim Council’s remarkable journey of 16 years which is dedicated “to no other task but building an inclusive, positive and progressive British Muslim community. Our struggle has never been about privileges or special dispensations. It is about equal recognition and participation”. He talked about the ethos of charity giving in Islam which “has led to ever increasing numbers of Muslim charities in the UK. Many of these charities are affiliates of the MCB and they do diverse and wonderful work across all corners of the world”. He said, “the positive contribution we make to humanity is something we and Britain should be proud of’. He went on to say that it was his Islamic duty that whilst we celebrated our contributions abroad, we remember the critical importance of investing within the communities and neighbourhoods in this country. He said, “in these times of economic hardship it is essential we invest back in the community which has done so much.” The keynote speaker Professor Dr Numan Kurtulmus, Vice Chairman of AKP (Justice and Development Party of Turkey) spoke about how the presence of the Muslim community will contribute to world peace – “it brings new ideas to the world to help resolve many of the issues”. He said, “many people came in this country with the purpose of surviving in life” and talked about how men and women worked hard to build important institutions. He congratulated MCB for its achievements. He talked about the importance of the Muslim community to share our values and traditions with others. Professor Numan said that the Quranic term Ma’ruf doesn’t only mean prayer but it is a universal term which includes freedom, justice and solidarity”. He said “we have to provide for the next generations. You have enough devoted people to work for the future of your community”.
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The MCB is a U.K. umbrella group that has been dominated by the Pakistani-based Islamist group known as the Jaamat-I-Islami that is closely tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and the MCB usually acts in concert with the Global Brotherhood.
A 2011 report from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) analyzed the role of Turkey and the Global Muslim Brotherhood in the June 2010 flotilla incident that involved a violent altercation with Israeli naval forces. Important conclusions from the report include:
- There is strong evidence for Turkish governmental involvement in the Gaza flotilla incident, with Turkish government support channeled through the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood. The IHH was not acting alone but rather was an integral part of a Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network.
- The Gaza flotilla incident brought into sharp focus an even more significant long- term development: the growing relationship between the Erdogan government and the Global Muslim Brotherhood, which has given rise to some of the most notorious Islamist terrorist groups – from al-Qaeda to Hamas. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood, while the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip acted as the main axis for this activity.
- Although IHH declared that the flotilla was humanitarian in nature, the history of IHH suggests that it is not only a humanitarian organization…..Aside from these terrorist connections, this report demonstrates that IHH and the rest of the Turkish/MB network are in fact Islamist, politicized organizations. ….Whether or not the violence was planned, this report demonstrates that the intent of the flotilla was breaking the Gaza blockade and delegitimizing Israel.