The Muslim American Society-Islamic Circle of North America (MAS-ICNA) 2019 convention held in Chicago last month reveals the Illinois Islamists’ ties with the autocratic Turkish regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and how Erdogan uses U.S. Islamists organizations as an arm of his foreign policy. One of the main convention sponsors was the Zakat Foundation (ZF), a nonprofit organization, that was founded by the Turkish-American Halil Demir in 1981, in Bridgeview, Illinois, near Chicago. Demir previously worked as the public relations offices for the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), an organization which would be designated for supporting terrorism for allegedly funding Al Qaeda. According to its mission statement, the Zakat foundation is a “trusted zakat (alms-giving) and donations resource center for Muslim donors.” Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. In his report “Erdogan’s Long Arm in the US: Turkish Influence Operations...(Read Full Article)