Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, in Cairo on March 18, a new step in the normalization of relations that went into crisis in 2013. After the meeting both sides declared that the consultations would continue, while Turkey reiterated its offer of Egyptian participation in joint military exercises with Turkey. Ankara has long been expressing dissatisfaction with Egypt’s joint exercises with Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. However, Çavuşoğlu said, “We can’t demand that Egypt cut its ties with Greece just because they have improved relations with us.”
At a press conference following the meeting, Çavuşoğlu said the Defense Ministry and General Staff has invited Egypt to three military exercises so far, adding that the countries need to intensify joint work in the military sector. Nordic Monitor learned that Turkey invited the Egyptian armed forces to naval and air exercises in 2021; however, no response was ever received.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told journalists during the Blue Homeland naval exercises in 2021 that there would soon be important developments with Egypt and described it as positive when the Egyptian government announced a tender for hydrocarbon drilling in in the eastern Mediterranean that was compatible with Ankara’s position on exclusive economic zones previously reported to the UN.
Asked following a cabinet meeting August 23, 2022 if Egypt’s exercises with Greece disturbed Turkey, Akar said, “Coming together in a military exercise does not mean being allied with everything. We have done dozens of national and multinational exercises in the last year. If the talks progress and the relations reach a certain point, we can hold exercises with Egypt in the future.”
However, Nordic Monitor had previously reported that the Turkish side was quite disturbed by these exercises. Mesut Hakkı Caşın, the Turkish president’s advisor on security and foreign policy, in November 2022 stated that it was unacceptable that Egypt and Saudi Arabia were participating in military exercises with Greece despite the warnings of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“I am very sorry to say this, but although Mr. President expressed Turkey’s discomfort, Saudi F-15s have flown to Crete and participated in exercises with the Greeks. The Egyptian navy is conducting military maneuvers with the Greek navy. How come? This is unacceptable,” he said.
Reminding that the Egyptian military together with the Ottomans stopped the entire Crusader navy in the past, Caşın added that “what Saudi Arabia is now doing against the Turkish nation, which was the flag bearer of Islam for 400 years, is unacceptable.”
There are some indications that normalization between the two countries is not progressing at the speed Ankara would like. Meeting with Turkish journalists in Cairo, Çavuşoğlu, when asked why ambassadors had not yet been reciprocally appointed, said that “it was to be announced at the summit where the presidents of the two countries met but didn’t happen.”
He said the two leaders would come together after the May 14 presidential election in Turkey. Considering the possible change of government in Ankara, Egypt may plan to continue negotiations with the new government. Also Erdoğan, who insulted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in previous years, thought that meeting with him during the election campaign would be used against him by the opposition.
Erdoğan has been an outspoken critic of el-Sisi since the latter seized power. Mohamed Morsi was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which traditionally had strong ties with Islamists in Turkey. Turkey was the only country to demand that the UN Security Council impose economic and political sanctions on el-Sisi, claiming that he was a war criminal. The countries declared each other’s ambassadors persona non grata and expelled them in 2013.
İstanbul became the capital of Arab media critical of their governments back home, especially for Egyptian media linked to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Not surprisingly, Erdoğan objected to a dinner hosted by former US President Donald Trump in honor of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019 due to his refusal to sit at the same table with el-Sisi. It is also claimed that Erdoğan left the room when he saw Sisi sitting at the same table as Trump.
However, when Erdoğan’s policies resulted in Turkey’s isolation in the Islamic world, Turkey started negotiations to woo Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which demanded that Turkey take concrete steps to address their concerns. Turkey first asked TV stations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood that broadcast from Istanbul to dial down their rhetoric.
In March 2021 Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu announced that diplomatic negotiations with Egypt had begun without preconditions. It was rumored by the Turkish media that the Egyptian delegation conveyed the message that it was in Turkey’s hands to ensure the progression of the talks, implying the need for concrete steps from Turkey.
Erdoğan greeted and shook hands with el-Sisi at the opening of the World Cup in the Qatari capital of Doha on November 20, 2022. The friendly handshake was considered an important step in the ongoing process of normalization between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters on his return from Qatar, Erdoğan said, “The togetherness of the Turkish nation and the Egyptian people in the past is very important to us. Why not start over? We gave them the signal.”
According to the Egyptian media, Egypt is still demanding the extradition of Muslim Brotherhood dissidents, the termination of Turkey’s military presence in Libya and the resolution of the problems between Turkey and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean.
