2024-02-14 06:11:07
After a rift that lasted more than a decade, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi receives his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Cairo, on an important visit to consolidate reconciliation between major regional players in the region.
Before the scheduled visit on Wednesday, Ankara and Cairo worked to exchange signs of rapprochement, including Sisi shaking hands with Erdogan in Qatar in November 2022, on the sidelines of the World Cup, Ankara’s offer to mediate between Egypt and Ethiopia in the Renaissance Dam crisis, and the Turkish authorities tightening the noose on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey.
Late last year, Egypt and Turkey announced the re-exchange of ambassadors, as a step towards improving relations and resolving the disputes that have multiplied and developed over the past few years.
The last visit and the beginning of the estrangement
Erdogan’s last visit to Egypt was in 2012, when he was prime minister. The late Islamist, Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Ankara, was then president of Egypt.
A year after the visit, Sisi, then Minister of Defense, overthrew Morsi in 2013, and since then the differences between the two countries have intensified, and Erdogan repeated that he “will never talk” to “someone like him,” referring to Sisi.
Erdogan publicly protested the overthrow of Morsi and accused Sisi of leading a coup against the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the intensity of the media war between the two countries escalated, leading to the withdrawal of ambassadors, which represented the beginning of a diplomatic rupture that lasted 10 years, according to a report from institute The Middle East.
From 2013 to 2021, problems between the two countries worsened due to the two leaders’ differing ideologies and views on regional issues, most notably the Arab quartet boycott of Qatar.
Egypt joined the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain in imposing a boycott and blockade on Qatar in 2017 after accusing Doha of supporting Islamist groups throughout the Middle East, some of which gained power directly after the so-called “Arab Spring” protests in 2011, according to the institute’s report.
But Erdogan’s Turkey supported Qatar during the crisis, supplying the Gulf state with food and pledging to provide military support, which exacerbated the Egyptian-Turkish dispute over other issues, most notably Libya.
Libya
Ankara, the major supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Cairo, which it considers a “terrorist” organization, support warring parties in Libya. Turkey has sent military advisers and drones to fight Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman in the east of the country, who is particularly supported by Egypt.
Tensions escalated between the two countries in the Libyan file in 2020, threatening a full military confrontation after Turkey intervened militarily in the civil war in Libya, a step that sparked a violent reaction from President Sisi, who considered it a blatant threat to Egyptian national security.
During a visit to a desert military base near the Libyan border on June 22, 2020, Sisi ordered the Egyptian army to “be prepared to carry out any mission outside the country,” which is a clear message to Ankara, according to a report from the center.Atlantic“.
energy
In addition to the Turkish military intervention in Libya, Egypt was angered by a memorandum of understanding signed on October 3, 2022 between Turkey and the Dabaiba government in Tripoli (west) regarding cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons, according to a report from “Nordheim Montier“.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister considered that the memorandum of understanding signed between the former Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli, and Turkey regarding oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean was “illegal.”
The memorandum of understanding increased the tension between Ankara and Cairo, as it came only three years after the conclusion of the controversial Turkish-Libyan maritime border demarcation agreement in 2019, which also raised the ire of the European Union at the time.
Egypt, along with Cyprus and Greece, considered that the 2019 agreement violated its economic rights, as the discovery of vast gas fields in recent years raised the ambitions of several countries in the region.
In August 2020, Egypt and Greece responded to the move with an agreement to demarcate the maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean.
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Türkiye
On the other hand, the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood residing in Turkey and their media channels were a reason for inflaming the intensity of the dispute between the two countries, and Cairo wanted the Turkish authorities to tighten the screws on the exiled members of the group and their supporters residing in Turkey and hand over the fugitives whom Cairo accuses of committing acts of violence against the Egyptian state.
In addition, the Egyptian authorities wanted to shut down Istanbul-based media channels that were highly critical of Sisi.
Ankara took steps to show its seriousness about rapprochement with Egypt, and in March 2021, Turkish officials urged hostile opposition channels to tone down their criticism of the Egyptian president, according to a report from the center.Atlantic“.
Not long after that, Mekamelin TV, a channel affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood known for its constant criticism of Sisi, announced it was suspending its broadcasts from Istanbul, saying it would move its headquarters “somewhere else.”
Relations between the two men have improved, with their interests now converging in several regional conflicts including Sudan and the Gaza Strip. Ankara also offered to mediate between Egypt and Ethiopia in the Renaissance Dam dispute in 2021, before the starting point began with the handshake in Qatar.
Football diplomacy
The main turning point was the handshake between Presidents Erdogan and Sisi in November 2022 in Doha, thanks to Qatar’s efforts within the framework of “football diplomacy” during the 2022 World Cup.
The institute report conveysThe Middle East“The economic pressures of the war in Ukraine and the resulting impact on energy and food prices, and the growing trend of regional de-escalation and reconciliation, were factors that likely helped pave the way for a rapprochement between Erdogan and Sisi.
They also spoke the day after the earthquake of February 6, 2023, which left more than 50,000 dead in Turkey. In July, ambassadors from both sides were reappointed.
In September, the two officials spoke for the first time face to face on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi.
Although the political crisis continued for a long time, trade relations remained good, as Ankara is Cairo’s fifth trading partner. In early February, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced the sale of combat marches to Egypt, indicating the completion of reconciliation between the two countries.
Hakan Fidan confirmed in a television interview, “The normalization process has been largely completed. Relations (between the two countries) are important for security and trade in the region.”
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