The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel were surprised to hear Turkey’s announcement on Dec. 13 that former Fatah senior Mohammed Dahlan is on the country’s most wanted list for terrorism. Previously, in November 2018, Turkey had accused Dahlan of involvement in the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Ankara, the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, and for trying to damage the Turkish lire. Turkey has now placed a price of 10 million Turkish lire ($1.75 million) on Dahlan’s head.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, one of Dahlan’s close associates rejected the Turkish accusations. “That’s crazy,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Even [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan doesn’t believe that Dahlan has any connection to the coup against him.”

Dahlan has lived in Abu Dhabi since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expelled him from the Fatah movement in October 2011 and called him a “traitor.” Dahlan’s people were labeled supporters of “the nation’s enemy,” and those receiving salaries from the PA saw those payments halted. In 2016, a Palestinian court convicted Dahlan in abstentia for allegedly stealing $16 million and sentenced him to three years in prison. Abbas also stripped Dahlan of his parliamentary immunity. Remarkably, Jam’at Abu Fadi, or Dahlan’s band, as PA members scornfully call his supporters, is not accusing Abbas or any other PA higher-ups of involvement in their idolized boss becoming one of Turkey's most wanted.

“Abbas is not involved, but he’s certainly enjoying all this,” another of Dahlan’s close associates told Al-Monitor, speaking on the condition of anonymity. According to that associate, “[Abbas and his potential successors] are as happy as anything. Someone else is doing the [dirty] work for them.” The source claims that Dahlan views all this as “nonsense,” and despite the threat to his life, he intends to continue criticizing Erdogan, “as he has done over the last seven years.” Just last month, Dahlan said in an interview with the Saudi television network MBC Masr, “Erdogan is delusional and mentally unstable, wishing to resurrect the Ottoman Empire in order to occupy the Arab world.”