Egyptian Brotherhood to establish TV channel in Turkey

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has reportedly set up a TV channel which will broadcast from Istanbul, Ehab Shiha, the leader of the so-called “National Alliance for Supporting Legitimacy, announced on Facebook this week. The channel, called Rabaa, will have an Islamist vision. Taking its name from Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in Egypt, which turned into a symbol of resistance by the Muslim Brotherhood, the channel's slogan will be “the pulse of freedom,” according to Shiha, Turkish newspaper “Today’s Zaman” reported. Given the strained relations between Egypt and Turkey due to Ankara's strong reaction to the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt on July 3, the opening of a Muslim Brotherhood TV channel in Turkey is expected to cause further tension between the two countries, the Turkish newspaper reported. Bilateral relations have been at a low since the military regime declared the Turkish ambassador to Cairo persona non grata last month. Kamal el-Helbawy, the vice-president of the constitutional committee and a former Muslim Brotherhood leader, argued that a TV channel broadcasting from overseas would become an example of failure for the Muslim Brotherhood. Following the toppling of the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the movement had established a newspaper called Freedom and Justice and a TV channel named Misr 25, in reference to the revolution. However, both outlets were doomed to failure due to a lack of professional staff. According a report by the Al-Ahram daily, journalist Neshat al Dihi, who resigned from Turkish state Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) channel, had said on TV that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is giving open support to the Muslim Brotherhood by allowing the establishment of such channel.