In late May, the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) organized a conference call to view Eid greetings delivered to US Muslims in a video posted on Twitter by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The remarks covered various topics including Palestine, COVID-19, Islamophobia in the West, a call for a re-design of the global system, as well as Syria and Libya. A Turkish media report provides the flavor of what Erdoğan said about the Mideast conflict:
May 25, 2020 Istanbul -Anadolu Agency: Turkey’s president on May 24 reiterated his country’s support for Palestine as the Muslim world celebrates Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. “We will not allow the Palestinian lands to be offered to anyone else,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a video message on Twitter addressed to U.S. Muslims. “I would like to reiterate that al-Quds Al-Sharif, the holy site of three religions and our first kiblah, is a red line for all Muslims worldwide,” Erdoğan said. “It is clear that the global order has long failed to produce justice, peace, serenity, and order,” he said. “Last week we witnessed that a new occupation and annexation project, which disregards Palestine’s sovereignty and international law, was put into action by Israel,” he added.
Read the rest here.
For video of Erdoğan’s remarks, go here.
The USCMO conference call was hosted by UCSMO Secretary General Oussama Jamal and notable participants included:
- Nihad Awad (head of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR))
- Serdar Kılıç (Turkish Ambassador to the United States)
- İsrafil Demir (Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) Vice Chairman, speaking on behalf of Halil Mutlu, TASC co-chair and a cousin of Erdoğan)
Other participants included various USCMO representatives from various USCMO member organizations and/or US Muslim Brotherhood leaders including:
- Javaid Siddiqi (Islamic Circle of North America President, USCMO Board Member)
- Esam Omeish (Muslim American Society, CAIR)
- Khalil Meek (USCMO Board Member, CAIR, Muslim Legal Fund of America Executive Director)
- Osama Abuirshaid (American Muslims for Palestine National Policy Director and board member, USCMO Board Member)
- W. Deen Mohammed II (The Mosque Cares, USCMO Treasurer)
- Nakibur Rahman (Muslim Ummah of North America, son of executed Bangladeshi Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami)
Erdoğan’s message was precluded by a still image stating the following while an Erdoğan campaign song played in the background: “Thank you Mr. President for helping our country with medical supplies when we needed them the most. Thank you for cheering our Eid.”
Several of the participants praised Erdoğan prior to watching the video:
- Esam Omeish thanked Erdoğan for his support to the US for the pandemic and for supporting “democracy and the rule of law in Libya.”
- Mohsin Ansari called Erdoğan the leader of the Muslim Ummah and thanked Erdoğan in regard to Kashmir.
- Oussama Jammal thanked and praised President Erdoğan and Turkey for sending medical aid to the United States. He also noted that Turkey continued to give medical aid to the US and others despite being hit hard by the coronavirus itself. Jammal also praised Ambassador Kılıç for helping to bring aid to the US.
After playing the video, Jammal thanked Erdoğan for his message calling it a “beautiful message” and a “message of justice” and called Erdoğan:
“a leader that really have (sic) exemplified the hopes and the aspiration of many who lived in the Muslim World and the Middle East in particular. We are very hopeful that inshallah Turkey will be a good example of human rights, of equality, of democracy, of progress, and of opportunities for young people, young generation (sic) who are looking to have a decent life.”
The USCMO was established in 2014 by eight organizations, seven of which are part of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US. The inaugural conference for the USCMO was held two years later and was attended by a wide variety of European Muslim Brotherhood leaders as well as US government officials. Since its founding, the USCMO has grown to include 35 member organizations, almost half known to be part of the USMB and including almost every important component of the Brotherhood in the US. The GMBDW reported yesterday that Presidential hopeful Joe Biden addressed a virtual conference organized by the USCMO.
A 2011 report authored by the GMBDW editor concluded that since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood. That report also detailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ideological ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood network, ties which date back to Erdoğan’s affiliation in the 1970s with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). The GMBDW has previously reported on the growing relationship between Turkey and the US Brotherhood including:
- In October 2016 we reported on a meeting between Erdoğan and a group of US Muslim leaders, 19 of which are known to be tied to the US Muslim Brotherhood or Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood or which have significant associations with the Brotherhood.
- In April 2015 we reported that the USCMO had taken Turkey’s side in choosing not to characterize the “events of 1915” as genocide.
- In June 2013 we reported that the Islamic Society of North America’s Director of Community Outreach met with then Prime Minister Erdoğan.