The Muslim Brotherhood’s stance on Türkiye’s position regarding Sweden’s NATO membership is one example. The Brotherhood’s analysts are pushing a narrative of “Turkish genius,” arguing that Türkiye allowed Sweden to join NATO in return for EU membership. This is not true.

The fact is that Washington will allow the F-16 deal to go through and patch up relations in return for Türkiye withdrawing its opposition to Sweden’s accession to NATO, while Türkiye’s accession to the European Union is not part of the equation.

Stunningly, the same Muslim Brotherhood (a group that claims to zealously defend Islam while actually exploiting it for political ends) that dubs Türkiye joining the European Union an “act of genius” launches ungrounded attacks on Saudi Arabia and some of the Gulf states for supposedly taking orders from the West.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s contradictions and misrepresentation have popularized conspiracy theories and undercut the fundamentals of political analysis, which help us understand what is going on around us and its implications. Conspiracy theories are thus spread on outlets and social media accounts sympathetic to the Brotherhood, giving rise to the systematic misrepresentations of regional developments.

Going back to the Muslim Brotherhood’s lies about Türkiye, their aim is to push back against the idea that after the victory of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara is recalibrating its position, building on the realignment that had begun with the restoration of relations with the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that preceded his reelection.

Now, after Erdogan’s victory, Türkiye and Egypt have mended ties. And, by withdrawing its opposition to Sweden joining NATO, Ankara has begun patching things up with Washington, further undermining Moscow, which is confronting NATO.

Muslim Brotherhood’s misinformation hinders serious political analysis that could explain the real political gains that Türkiye has made and their implications on the region – from Iran to Syria and from Iraq to the Gulf states. Their lies also obfuscate the losses that the Muslim Brotherhood has incurred as a result of Türkiye’s policy shifts.

The restoration of Turkish-Egyptian relations – for example – is unequivocally detrimental to the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, led by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the region has turned the page on cooperating with the Muslim Brotherhood and being lenient with it.

If any links to groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood endure, they have been maintained because of political realism. To work with those in power, whoever they may be is realpolitik; however, this does not imply a lax view of the organization and its figures like that which had been seen in the past.

The countries of the region – with Saudi Arabia at the forefront – are now seeking to further their interests, maximize gains, and do everything they can to realize the economic and political objectives of Saudi Arabia and the region. This state of affairs does not suit the Muslim Brotherhood, and this is why they continue to mislead and simplify – this is the reason for their incitement against our countries and region.

This is the same old game they have always played. Though their aesthetics, discourse, and platforms have changed, they continue to play it.

Source: Asharq Al-Awsat