Erdogan enables convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad figure to operate freely in Turkey

Sami Al-Arian is right at home in Turkey. Erdogan recently demanded Allah to “damn Zionist Israel” in Eid al-Fitr remarks.

In recent bad news, EU leaders  started “lifting their opposition to key military hardware sales, to the alarm of Turkey’s rival Greece.” The Turkish president also recently demanded that Israel withdraw from Syria.

So the news that Erdogan is empowering convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami Al-Arian should not surprise anyone. Erdogan would, in fact, deem al-Arian a hero to be boosted in his jihad activities, particularly given his achievements and his connections with PIJ. Among them: Al-Arian was “a professor of computer engineering at the University of South Florida. During the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, he was invited to the White House. He actively campaigned for the Bush presidential campaign in the US presidential election in 2000.”

The longer Erdogan remains in NATO and piles up weaponry, the more the West moves toward a crisis with Turkey.

“Erdogan empowers US-convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad figure to operate freely in Turkey,” by Abdullah Bozkurt, Nordic Monitor, March 31, 2025:

Sami Al-Arian, a senior figure in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) who was convicted on terrorism charges in the United States, is continuing his activities in Turkey with the support of resources provided by the Islamist government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Although the PIJ is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey’s strategic partners, the US and the EU, the Erdogan government provides platforms for PIJ-linked individuals to operate freely. These people exploit Turkey’s resources to spread antisemitic narratives, promote jihadism and radicalize the Turkish population — with Al-Arian emerging as a key figure.

Exploiting heightened sensitivities surrounding the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict, Al-Arian frequently appears on state-run media outlets such as TRT World — an English-language arm of the taxpayer-funded Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) — and the Anadolu news agency. He denounces the West, particularly the US and its key Middle Eastern ally, Israel, calls for the dismantling of the Jewish state, defends terrorist attacks and promotes jihadist rhetoric.

He has also been featured as a writer for Daily Sabah, a newspaper owned by Erdogan’s family; Insight Turkey, a journal published by the SETA Foundation, which is linked to Turkish intelligence; as well as the pro-Hamas online news outlet Middle East Eye and the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera network.

Since his conditional release from prison in the US following a guilty plea, subsequent deportation and his welcome by the Erdogan government in 2015, Al-Arian has enjoyed Erdogan’s protection, generous access to government-provided resources and close ties with Turkish Islamist organizations….