Friday, October 10, 2025
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Turkish diplomatic missions in Europe have turned into the Erdoğan party’s clubhouses

November 2, 2021
A A
Turkish diplomatic missions in Europe have turned into the Erdoğan party’s clubhouses
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Levent Kenez/Stockholm

Nordic Monitor has learned that Turkey’s ruling party officials met with party members at Turkish diplomatic missions in Europe and that ambassadors organized gatherings with pro-government NGOs in an example of Turkey’s transformation into a “party-state.”

On October 13 ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala, who runs the party’s overseas operations, announced on Twitter that he had met with the Turkish press at the Turkish Embassy in The Hague. It was not specified why Ala, who has no official duties, held this meeting at a diplomatic mission. 

However, a detail that Ala omitted in his tweet was put on the AKP’s official website, which states that Ala actually met with representatives of the Union of International Democrats (UID), the European organization of the AKP. The fact that Ala failed to mention was that he had a meeting with the party members at the embassy.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that President Erdoğan addressed party members at the meeting, whereas Efkan Ala announced that he had met with members of the press.

Moreover, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed UID officials via Ala’s phone. Ambassador Saban Dişli also attended the party meeting but preferred not to take part in post-meeting photo ops. Dişli, a non-career diplomat and a former politician and banker, was Erdoğan’s political appointee to the Netherlands in 2018 after secret bank accounts and investments in the country allegedly belonging to the families of President Erdoğan and former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım were exposed.

After meeting with party members, Ala hosted another meeting at the embassy, announcing that he met with Turkish NGOs. However, they were in fact organizations close to the AKP. The UID was also involved in this meeting. The embassy’s social media accounts did not include any of Ala’s activities at the embassy.

Similarly, Ala had met with mostly pro-government NGO representatives at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels on October 12. Needless to say, the UID was also present at this meeting. The embassy did not issue an official statement about the gathering.

Ala met with representatives of Turkish NGOs at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels. Köksal Kuş, chairman of the UID, can be seen at far left.

The UID is often described as the long arm of President Erdoğan in Europe for mobilizing the Turkish and Muslim diasporas for the goals of political Islamists back in Turkey. Turkish government agencies, particularly the Turkish Development and Cooperation Agency (TİKA) and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), are mobilizing their resources to support the UID. In addition, religious associations funded by Turkey including the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), which is run by the Erdoğan family, have close relations with the UID. In documents that were exposed by journalist Metin Cihan last month, TÜGVA’s operations abroad using state facilities were revealed. The foundation is believed to be involved in intelligence operations abroad.

Erdoğan last month hosted a delegation from the UID at Dolmabahçe Palace in İstanbul. He instructed UID members to be more aggressive and active, telling them, “Don’t defend, attack, explain our cause!” Erdoğan also promised that Turkish state institutions would provide them increased assistance.

It would be unrealistic to expect diplomatic missions would provide equal service to all Turkish citizens abroad given the fact that state institutions have already turned into ruling party organizations at home. In the not-so-distant past Turkey’s diplomatic missions distanced themselves from domestic politics, and political appointees as ambassadors were the exception. It was uncommon for ambassadors to work as party representatives. An important note is that diplomats who started working for the Turkish Foreign Ministry long before the AKP came to power and are known for their staunchly secular world views now work in harmony with the Islamist AKP in order to be promoted and not be appointed to desk jobs. They feel no discomfort acting like party officials to benefit politicians.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Turkish president’s family foundation funded political Islamist group in the Netherlands  

Next Post

President Erdoğan’s family promotes Muslim Brotherhood ideology among millions of students in Turkey

Levent Kenez

Levent Kenez

[email protected]

Next Post
President Erdoğan’s family promotes Muslim Brotherhood ideology among millions of students in Turkey

President Erdoğan’s family promotes Muslim Brotherhood ideology among millions of students in Turkey

Erdogan’s family-linked drone exports spark tensions with Serbia

Erdogan’s family-linked drone exports spark tensions with Serbia

October 10, 2025
Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025
Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

October 7, 2025
Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

October 6, 2025
Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

October 3, 2025
Erdoğan government believed Muslim Brotherhood would make a huge comeback in Egypt in few years

Turkey’s top court quashes terrorism conviction of 2 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members

October 2, 2025
Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

October 1, 2025
Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

September 30, 2025
$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

September 29, 2025

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor is a news web site and tracking site that is run by the Stockholm-based Nordic Research and Monitoring Network. It covers religious, ideological and ethnic extremist movements and radical groups, with a special focus on Turkey.

Tags

al-Qaeda Andrei Karlov China Cyprus Diyanet Egypt Erdogan espionage Germany Greece Gülen Movement Hakan Fidan Hamas Hulusi Akar Ibrahim Kalın IHH Iran IRGC Quds Force ISIL ISIS Isis al-qaida Israel Libya Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı MIT Muslim Brotherhood NATO President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Profiling Qatar Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Russia SADAT spying Spying Activities Suleyman Soylu Sweden Syria Torture Turkey Turkish Intelligence Agency Turkish intelligence agency MIT Ukraine United States

Recent News

Erdogan’s family-linked drone exports spark tensions with Serbia

Erdogan’s family-linked drone exports spark tensions with Serbia

October 10, 2025
Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.