Tactical or strategic… the limits of rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey

In politics, each lawsuit is conscionable an lawsuit successful and of itself. However, when respective events are combined with their background, the representation becomes clearer, which tin champion picture the caller improvement of relations betwixt Egypt and Turkey.

There are three events, the mentation of which will reply the astir important question: What are the limits of rapprochement betwixt Egypt and Turkey?

The archetypal is the naval maneuvers betwixt Egypt and Turkey; the 2nd is the subject deals; and the third is the visit of the Turkish overseas curate to Egypt.

‘Sea of Friendship’ maneuvers

This week, Egypt and Turkey revived the “Sea of Friendship” maneuvers aft a 13-year hiatus, a determination that reflects singular transformations.

The maneuvers bespeak an precocious stage successful the rapprochement betwixt the two countries and rise questions astir the improvement of rapprochement into strategic cooperation.

Assessments successful Cairo implicitly provided the answer, explaining that the “real crushed down the maneuvers” was the escalation of Israeli tensions successful the region, particularly aft Israel targeted Hamas leaders successful Qatar. This was aboriginal reflected successful the summit discussions held successful Doha. The maneuvers tin beryllium understood arsenic a governmental and subject connection that Turkey and Egypt, the two largest Muslim determination powers, stand together against Israel, particularly since Hamas leaders are contiguous successful Ankara and are coming to Cairo for negotiations. This could beryllium considered a warning awesome to Israel pursuing Netanyahu’s menace to target Hamas leaders anywhere.

Military deals

Last August, reports indicated that Egypt was adjacent to joining the Turkish strategic task to make the Kaan stealth combatant jet. Prior to that, quality circulated astir a woody to merchantability Turkish drones to Egypt.

This practice tin beryllium interpreted arsenic Ankara trying to compensate for its deprivation of American F-35 combatant jets aft purchasing the Russian S-400 aerial defence system, oregon owed to restrictions imposed by Washington connected Egypt’s acquisition of precocious weapons. It tin beryllium considered a signifier of effect to Washington.

Given the evolving subject conflicts successful the Middle East, Cairo and Ankara person realized that determination developments struggle with their strategic objectives. This has prompted them to flooded their existent governmental differences and cooperate to forestall the United States and Israel from shaping the geopolitical maps of the Middle East successful a way that whitethorn not service their interests. At the aforesaid time, however, they are managing a equilibrium betwixt their confederation and different alliances betwixt Ankara and Cairo with the United States and their adjacent relations with the European Union.

Turkish overseas minister’s visit

According to authoritative statements, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty addressed coordination of positions betwixt the two countries connected various determination issues. Abdelatty said successful a property league with his Turkish counterpart that “there is an Egyptian-Turkish statement connected ways to woody with determination crises,” which is accordant with the above.

While The Turkish overseas curate stated successful a television interrogation that “previous disagreements with Egypt were simply a substance of communal admonition betwixt lovers, and that present we are working arsenic 1 assemblage connected the Gaza issue.” This statement went too far, due to the fact that the struggle betwixt Egypt and Turkey implicit the past decennary has acold surpassed a “lovers’ tiff.”

In fact, The Muslim Brotherhood contented remains a situation for Egypt, but the shared interests betwixt Cairo and Ankara are presently greater, prompting the two countries to attack it pragmatically. Egypt has demanded that Turkey manus implicit wanted individuals for information reasons, while Ankara will question to gradually relieve itself of the load of this issue, either by handing implicit the wanted individuals oregon deporting them to different countries.

However, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, done their officials and media outlets, are waging uncontrolled statements that tin beryllium described arsenic a hysterical run astir “Arab unity.” Experts successful Cairo spot this arsenic a run to propulsion Egypt toward a confrontation with Israel, an thought that the Muslim Brotherhood’s platforms are besides trying to promote. This means that adjacent if Turkey is trying to appease Cairo by defining its narration with the Brotherhood, there is different question under the surface.

Tactical move?

It is wide that the three erstwhile moves betwixt Egypt and Turkey were driven by Israel, which prompted cardinal determination powers – such arsenic Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran – to flooded their long-standing differences and prosecute successful associated information cooperation. The astir salient illustration is Saudi Arabia’s signing of a information practice statement with Pakistan.

Take into relationship the “subdued tension” that has overshadowed Cairo’s relations with Washington and Tel Aviv, and besides the developments successful Syria and talk of a information statement betwixt Syria and Israel that could impact Turkish power successful Syria.

Through its overseas argumentation moves (expanding practice with Turkey and opening governmental and information channels with Iran), Egypt is attempting to reshape its relation successful the portion to code the complexities of the volatile issues connected its three borders: Gaza, Libya and Sudan.

While these alliances cannot, of course, resoluteness governmental crises and decades-long rivalry, they tin beryllium considered a tactical determination for enactment astatine the contiguous time. This is done successful a pragmatic and much flexible manner, while maintaining a equilibrium with the European Union and the United States.

These caller alliances are still successful their aboriginal stages, and their aboriginal prospects stay uncertain. Numerous contacts person been made successful the past, but they person yielded nary results.

Sara Sherif is simply a writer and overseas affairs analyst.