We were two branches of the same sapling blooming with roses!

In reality, he is aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is the “last line of defense.”

He knows that if Hamas falls like the others, the dream of becoming the caliph of the Ummah—stretching from Syria to Palestine, and from Egypt to Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco—will be completely extinguished.

Yet, how promising things looked during the Arab Spring.

Obama and Merkel were openly providing support, and winds of so-called democracy were being stirred up. Under the guise of freedom of religion and conscience, the path to Islamofascism was being paved.

Together with Ghannouchi in Tunisia, Morsi in Egypt, and Haniyeh in Palestine, political Islam was set to take control of the Middle East and North Africa, and he himself was to emerge as a postmodern caliph, assuming the leadership of the Islamic world.

The Islamist oligarchy, fattened by the natural resources of the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, would dismantle secular states, transform non-Islamist masses through pressure and force, and plunge this unfortunate geography of the world into the darkness of a new Middle Ages to serve Western interests.

That was, more or less, the plan at home.

But it did not work out in the marketplace. The Muslim Brotherhood project collapsed rapidly in every country except Palestine. Hamas, tasked with providing legitimacy to the racist, religious politics in Israel, maintained its existence and power in Gaza with Netanyahu's support.

In short, by the time it was understood that political Islam was not compatible with democracy and human rights, as it had been marketed to the international community, it was already too late.

Syria and Libya were drenched in blood, and in Israel—one of the region's two democratic countries until yesterday—Netanyahu consolidated his power by feeding on the Islamist threat.

In Turkey, even though things did not go exactly as planned, he was somehow able to manage the situation with a pragmatism that would make Machiavelli look like an amateur.

When the Muslim Brotherhood project collapsed, he repositioned himself.

For instance, to open a new page with Egyptian leader Sisi—whom he had previously insulted in every way possible for removing Morsi from power—he first signaled that he was no longer the patron of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He imposed restrictions on Istanbul-based TV channels, and instructions were sent to their prominent figures to “not talk too much.”

On the surface, he had written off some members of the Brotherhood. However, he did not throw this useful card into the trash entirely. If he were to become the caliph of the Ummah one day, he needed to keep at least one end of this card in his hand.

If the tides turned tomorrow and the West put Islamism back into circulation in the Middle East and North Africa, he would be the first person they would call.

That is when he could use this card, which he held onto even by a thread, for bargaining and sit at the table with Europe and America.

However, things hit a dead end with the assassination of Haniyeh. His attempt to keep the Brotherhood members, who scattered like a covey of partridges after the Arab Spring, under his wing only works to a certain extent!

What mattered was that they maintain their political and military positions in Gaza, the breaking point of the Middle East.

It didn't happen.

He sees very clearly that Hamas has now entered a path of no return.

It is not difficult to predict that the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood will now enter a process of disintegration. Even if international public opinion supports the Palestinian people in Gaza, the psychological superiority has shifted to Israel.

He realized that at the end of the brutal war in Gaza, nothing in the region would ever be the same again.

He is experiencing great disappointment. That is the reason for his anger. He declared a day of mourning for the late Haniyeh and shut down Instagram, risking millions of liras in losses because they did not publish his condolence message. He even called those who criticized the declaration of mourning “of corrupt lineage.” We do not know if he has vented his frustration or what else he might do or say from here on out.

If Haniyeh were alive, it might have been possible for Hamas to be part of a potential peace equation tomorrow or the next day.

This meant that, indirectly, he could have found a seat for himself at the diplomatic table.

Just imagine what would follow... from 'The caliph of the Ummah saved the Palestinians' to 'The leader who brought peace to the Middle East,' how the issue would be hyped up, and what the palace-fed press would write...

Let us not mock this by saying “dreams and realities” or by recalling the proverb about the hungry chicken seeing itself in a grain silo. Because these things are being discussed quite seriously in AKP circles.

No matter how you look at it, the Muslim Brotherhood project has long since been consigned to the dusty chest of history, but he still sees the Palestinian issue as an inexhaustible resource for fortifying his nationalist, religious base at home.

Especially when fueled by religious demagoguery through the Brotherhood, the probability of losing an election at home drops almost to zero.

Now, this useful material is slowly slipping through his fingers.

Before we conclude our article, let us recall Tülay's song that took the country by storm in the 70s with a small change; let us say, “We were two branches of the same sapling blooming with roses,” and put a period to our writing.