Saudi media outlets have reported allegations that north Cyprus has been used as an intermediary hub for networks linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, involving claims of fake university enrolments, financial fraud and forged certificates.
According to reports by Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya and its sister channel Al Hadath, the so-called authorities in the breakaway north have expelled a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was allegedly active in Turkey and worked as an office director for a senior figure linked to Salah Abdel Haq’s faction.
Salah Abdel Haq is described in the reports as an Egyptian doctor and Islamist preacher, born in 1945 in Cairo, and is presented by one faction of the organisation as acting general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The expelled individual is alleged in the same reports to have operated an “educational brokerage” network in north Cyprus, targeting students seeking enrolment in so-called universities. The reports claim students and parents paid significant sums for multi-year study programmes but later discovered they had been enrolled for only one year, with the remaining funds allegedly misappropriated.
The Saudi media reports also allege the network facilitated the presence of Muslim Brotherhood members facing court rulings in Egypt, with the aim of securing academic credentials or enrolment in north Cyprus to ease onward travel to Turkey.
The same reports claim forged IELTS certificates were issued for payments that allegedly reached up to $5,000 per certificate.
Separately, the individual is also reported to have worked with another person to establish unlicensed and unrecognised educational structures in north Cyprus, aimed at gathering young Muslim Brotherhood members.
The reports further allege that the case highlights how north Cyprus may be used as a grey zone for networks involved in fraud, document forgery and political facilitation. They also note that higher education in the territory has for years attracted foreign students with limited international oversight, creating conditions that may be open to abuse.
