Egypt and Turkey: Enormous Distrust to Hope (El-Sisi and Erdogan)
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (al-Sisi) of Egypt greeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey (Türkiye) with open arms during Erdoğan’s visit to Egypt.
This would have been unimaginable during the height of the intrigues of America under President Barack Obama and external forces from Turkey, Qatar, and others that gave fresh momentum to the Muslim Brotherhood and the so-called Arab Spring. Indeed, el-Sisi stepped into the Muslim Brotherhood quagmire and pushed the forces of destabilization back by stabilizing Egypt.
Egypt’s leader seeks to stabilize Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. NATO Turkey, on the other hand, under Erdoğan involved itself in Libya and currently occupies North Syria – while Erdoğan pushes the Muslim Brotherhood dream in several nations, including keeping the support of Turks in Germany and the Netherlands (Holland).
However, it seems that the pragmatism of el-Sisi is winning the day. If so, this bodes well for parts of North Africa still blighted by instability (notably Libya) – and for the troubled nations of the Middle East (West Asia).
Ahram Online said (Abdel-Rahman Salaheddin), “The long-awaited visit comes at a time when both countries need each other in the face of many challenges, whether due to the development of conflict and competition within the international system, such as the Ukrainian war and the US-Chinese rivalry, or the regional competition to redraw the map of the distribution of power between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, and Israel.”
Cordial talks between the leaders of Egypt and Turkey based on solidarity to pragmatic compromises – concerning economics, geopolitics, drone warfare, and other areas – are a million miles from the fallout of the Muslim Brotherhood assault on the body politic of Egypt.
France 24 reports, “Turkey and Egypt cut ties in 2013 after Sisi, then defense minister, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Ankara and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.”
Turning the clock forward to the meeting between el-Sisi and Erdoğan, both leaders said they would cooperate over the crisis in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. This concerns important initiatives to stem the crisis – and the rebuilding of Gaza along with Gulf Powers after the crisis ends.
Reuters reports, “Erdogan has sought to ease tensions with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel since 2021 – though since October he has publicly sniped with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s devastating war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.”
Egypt is focused on stabilizing Libya, the dam issue with Ethiopia, and supporting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This concerns the crisis in Yemen to the containment of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist networks that threaten regional stability.
Energy disputes in the Mediterranean, drone warfare (the influence of Turkey in several conflicts), economics, and a host of other issues were discussed by the leaders of Egypt and Turkey during the meeting between el-Sisi and Erdoğan.
Overall, the positive meeting between both leaders bodes well for regional stability – and, in areas of differences, to make compromises.
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi and her website – Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK