I can report to you that the US government has been in contact with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. In a recent conference held in London, US and British official representatives met with the former (and still actual) leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, ‘Ali Al-Bayanuni.
As’ad AbuKhalil is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. This note was first published in The Angry Arab News Service on 24 June 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Cf. “Israeli and Turkish officials have been holding secret direct talks to try to solve the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, a senior official in Jerusalem said. The negotiations are receiving the Americans’ support. A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry and a U.S. official confirmed that talks are being held, though in Israel the prime minister and foreign minister’s aides declined to comment. . . . In addition, the U.S. administration has held talks with senior Turkish officials, mainly to foil the flotilla to Gaza due later this month, but also in a bid to improve relations with Israel. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu and expressed satisfaction with the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation’s announcement that the ship the Mavi Marmara would not take part in the flotilla this time around, officials said” (Barak Ravid, “Israel and Turkey Holding Secret Direct Talks to Mend Diplomatic Rift,” Haaretz, 21 June 2011); “The rise to power of a ‘democratic’ Muslim Brotherhood with the mediatized and psychological support of the West would mean that Syria will no longer belong to the Shiite bloc. Losing an ally like Syria would force Iran to lose a highly important geopolitical space and also instigate serious psychological trauma. Under such circumstances, Turkey will most likely leave aside the politics of balancing and begin to embrace its role as a new member of the Sunni bloc. It would be no surprise at all if Turkey-Iran relations acquired a new shape in the near future” (Nihat Ali Özcan, “Turkey-Syria-Iran Triangle Is Being Redrawn,” Hürriyet Daily News, 22 June 2011).
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