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The publication analyses transnational Islamist alliances and their influence in Europe.

A new study by the Documentation Centre Political Islam (DPI) analyses the transnational networks of two Islamist movements in the Middle East and Turkey and their influence on the Muslim population in Europe. In the publication entitled ‘The AKP and the Muslim Brotherhood: Making and Unmaking an Islamist Alliance in the Middle East and Europe’, study author Jan-Markus Vömel focuses on two important movements from the spectrum of political Islam: the Muslim Brotherhood, which emerged in Egypt in the late 1920s and became a pioneer of Islamist organisations, and the Milli Görüş movement, from which the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), which has been politically dominant in Turkey for decades, emerged.

Hamas propaganda in Turkish media

While the Milli Görüş ideology was able to establish itself with the help of the Turkish ruling party AKP under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in its country of origin, Egypt. However, it is active in the underground and also in other countries with various offshoots. The terrorist organisation Hamas emerged from the Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood at the end of the 1980s and is still supported by the Turkish government following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. It also spreads Hamas propaganda and other Islamist narratives with anti-Western messages via various channels and media networks. This enables it to exert a targeted influence on the Turkish-speaking community in Europe. 

‘During the Arab Spring, it briefly looked as if the entire region could be dominated by populist Islamist parties modelled on Turkey. But that didn't happen. Turkey's plans for regional dominance failed, but it has by no means lost its ambitions. Today it is just trying to realise them in a different way. It is interesting to note the extent to which Islamist movements in Europe have been able to exchange ideas free from the pressure of authoritarian regimes at home,’ explains Vömel, who specialises in global religious movements and the history of modern Turkey. The author of the study points out that following the failure of the Arab Spring, Hamas is now the last major partner of the AKP from the Muslim Brotherhood camp.

Common ideological direction

Despite their different historical and regional contexts of origin, the two movements are linked by their ideological orientation and see themselves as connected movements in the spirit of a ‘global Islamic awakening’. The study reveals the many personal and structural overlaps that existed between the two movements in the past. Among other things, contacts developed in Europe, particularly via organisations such as the IGMG (Islamic Community Millî Görüş) and offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Turkish religious authority Diyanet (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı) also occasionally works with organisations close to the Muslim Brotherhood via institutions such as DITIB (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği) in Germany or ATIB (Avusturya Türkiye İslam Birliği) in Austria. For example, people associated with the Muslim Brotherhood took part in the DITIB's ‘Meeting of European Muslims’ in 2019.

‘The DPI study sheds light on how political Islam operates across national borders and spreads its ideologies in European countries. The transnational interdependencies raise numerous questions - such as how European societies can deal with the growing influence of political-religious groups and ensure that the principles of democracy and the rule of law are upheld,’ says Lisa Fellhofer, Director of the Documentation Centre Political Islam.

The AKP and the Muslim Brotherhood: Making and Unmaking an Islamist Alliance in the Middle East and Europe