Erdogan began to act against the Muslim Brotherhood Israel today

Authorities in Turkey have ordered Al-Sharq, Watan and Kamlin to stop visiting Egypt • Dr. Cohen Inrojak: "First stage of Erdogan's trust test"

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech to parliament

  Photo: 

  AFP

A change in policy on a historic scale by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

Authorities in Turkey have ordered Al-Sharq, Watan and Kamlin to stop their criticism of Egypt immediately.

This was reported by the Al-Arabiya network and journalists from the Egyptian opposition. 

Allegedly, this is an activity in front of the media, but the message behind the move is clear: Erdogan's desire to reduce as much as possible the criticism against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his men on the side of the Muslim Brotherhood media broadcasting from Istanbul.

These three media outlets began operating from Istanbul between 2015-2013 following the fall of Egyptian President, Muslim Brotherhood man Muhammad Morsi in 2013, and the rise to power of al-Sisi in 2014.

Photo: Reuters

Erdogan, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and its "fourth" mark is also his trademark, led to the opening of these channels to promote the movement's propaganda, which is prohibited by law in Egypt.

Beyond that, senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood emigrated to Turkey with the help of the president, for fear of being arrested. 

However, he is now in a different situation: Ankara is signaling to both Cairo and Jerusalem that it is interested in normalizing relations.

On the other hand, ventures like Eastmed, which are supposed to go through an area in the Mediterranean where Turkey sees as its exclusive economic water, have left it strategically isolated.

Therefore, the instruction given to Al-Sharq, Watan and Kamlin channels is to stop all their political broadcasts, and to continue with only non-political programs.

If they do not meet the requirement, sanctions will be taken against them - including the danger of closing the channels' activities.

One example of a situation in which the channels are located was obtained from a tweet from the Al-Sharq network.

"In honor of our followers, we apologize for not airing tonight an episode of 'The Streets of Egypt,'" they wrote as part of a clear hint that what was - is not what will be.

Muhammad Morsi in court in 2015 / Photo: Reuters

"These channels are not observed by the Turkish people, and therefore it is more of a message intended for Cairo," Dr. Chai Eitan Cohen Inrojek, a modern Turkish researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told Israel Today. .

He said: "Erdogan is interested in illustrating to Sisi that he is serious about his intentions regarding the normalization of relations between the two countries. As a first step, they have taken this step."

Dr Cohen Inrojek adds that "this is a first stage of a test of confidence for Erdogan, in which he will have to prove that not only is he taking action against the Muslim Brotherhood in general and against their media in particular, but especially with actions against the Turkish established media. Legitimization and demonization against Egypt.

At the same time, Erdogan's conduct in this dimension will to a very large extent also determine bilateral relations with Israel.

"Egypt will be a test case of whether the Turkish president can also stop the systematic attacks against Jerusalem in the established Turkish media."