Rapprochement between Egypt and Turkiye should benefit the whole region

Paraphrasing 18th century British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, Winston Churchill said after World War Two, “We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests.” That is what drives realpolitik, or pragmatism in international relations.

Turkiye and Egypt are a good example. A lot of their mutual tension over the past eleven years since the coup which brought Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power has been dissipated recently, because it is in their mutual interests to do so. They have never broken relations, but they have been affected. Nevertheless, trade continued between the two, and actually increased in volume.

Turkiye owns seventy factories in the large industrial zone in 6th of October City in Egypt, in addition to many private factories owned by Turkish investors, with encouragement from the Turkish government. These factories employ thousands of Egyptian workers and export their products to many countries around the world labelled as “Made in Egypt”. Both countries wish to continue and even develop such investments, despite the immoral and irresponsible campaigns waged by the Egyptian media against Turkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally. Such incitement has declined significantly since signs of Egypt-Turkiye rapprochement surfaced in Doha just under two years ago.

That’s when Erdogan and Al-Sisi shared a very public handshake.

A year later, the two countries exchanged ambassadors and Ankara announced that it would supply Cairo with armed drones. Media incitement disappeared completely after Erdogan’s visit to Egypt in February. Al-Sisi reciprocated with a visit to Turkiye last week.

The restoration of cordial relations between Egypt and Turkiye will help to bring some stability to the Middle East, at a time of genocide in Gaza and the systematic displacement of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. The leaders of two of the largest countries in the region that are directly linked to Palestine now have the opportunity to send strong messages accompanied by tangible steps against Israel’s ongoing genocide.

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Both Egypt and Turkiye face real threats to their national security due to major strategic changes regionally and internationally leading inevitably to geopolitical changes as new alliances emerge. The two countries have an interest in being closer to confront the threat posed by the Zionist entity to the region as well as to the Palestinians. Cairo and Ankara have been forced to put aside their differences — which seem to have been personal rather than anything more fundamental — and make a few concessions that allow them to form a single front against the threats in order to promote their common interests, especially when it comes to the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Agreement and the redrawing of maritime and land borders between countries in this sensitive region. This will help in the preservation of their national security and stability.

Healing rifts between Islamic nations should please every Muslim, so that the Ummah can regain its ability to confront the major challenges imposed on the region and confront enemies who wait for opportunities to attack. The leaders of Islamic countries need to unite over major issues that they share, while also redefining friends and enemies, as such definitions have been lost in the crazed struggle and competition for the perceived leadership of the Muslim world. This has been lost in the frenzy for personal advancement at the expense of the people, and the enemies have taken advantage to humiliate and disgrace us all.

The reconciliation and mutual visits between the Egyptian and Turkish presidents did not happen on a whim; they took years of preparation, planning and elaborate statements by officials from both sides. The Turkish newspaper Aksham reported in September 2019 that there were discussions taking place between Egypt and Turkey at the intelligence level at Egypt’s request. This was not denied by Cairo.

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One major side effect of the rapprochement has been its impact on the civil war in Libya, even though Egypt and Turkiye have backed opposing sides; Egypt has supported the coup General Khalifa Haftar, while Turkiye backs the internationally-recognised government in Tripoli. Now the fighting has stopped and Libya looks as if it has been saved from partition, which was a common goal of both Cairo and Ankara. It is reasonable to suggest that the formation of the transitional government with individuals from both sides of the conflict in Libya has contributed significantly to the improvement of Turkish-Egyptian relations.

Links between Egypt and Turkiye go back many hundreds of years, with a major impact on the human, emotional and intellectual structure of their respective societies. The Mamluks were originally Turks, and ruled Egypt, the Levant, Iraq and parts of the Arabian Peninsula for more than two and a half centuries.

The Ottomans governed Egypt as a province for more than three centuries.

The lengthy Turkish presence in Egypt strengthened and reinforced the social ties between Egyptians and Turks. Many Egyptians trace their lineage back to the Turks, and vice versa; they have deep roots of kinship, marriage ties and blood relations.

The Egyptian dialect contains many words taken from Turkish. This shared heritage extends to cuisine and architecture. The cities of Egypt contain fine examples of Ottoman buildings and monuments, and streets are named after historical Ottoman figures. It was purely out of spite and foolish hostility that the famous Sultan Selim I Street in the Zeitoun area east of Cairo was renamed.

Egypt and Turkiye are two great countries that enjoy common moral, social and cultural values, given their common history and ties. Egyptians and Turks are no doubt happy with their rapprochement, which should have a positive impact on and benefit the entire region.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.