Why did Turkey deport alleged Muslim Brotherhood member?
Is the extradition of an alleged Muslim Brotherhood member to Egypt a simple bureaucratic glitch or a sign of Erdogan’s change of heart toward the Egyptian organization?
Picture this: A young man buckled in a plane seat with his hands cuffed behind him looking distraught. The man, 29-year-old Egyptian citizen Mohamed Abdelhafez Ahmed Hussein, was extradited to Cairo from Istanbul's Ataturk airport Jan. 18. He was sentenced to death in absentia in the 2015 car bombing that claimed the life of Egypt’s chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat; 27 others also received death sentences.
It was not until early February that the photo of Hussein in the plane started spreading on social media networks. Almost everyone was surprised, and Islamists were disturbed, by the extradition of Hussein to Egypt, where they say torture is prevalent and fair courts do not exist. Given the Turkish government’s open and relentless support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement, how and why was Hussein returned to Egypt where he may face execution? (He is entitled to a retrial). Are other Muslim Brotherhood members seeking refuge in Turkey in danger as well? Hussein had arrived at the Ataturk airport Jan. 16 without a valid visa on a flight from Somalia.
