Ahmad 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Egypt comes as part of the reshaping of relations in the region after the turmoil left by the “Arab Spring”, as between Cairo and Ankara, different files are distributed and positions are contradictory, especially in the Libyan situation.
The two countries stand on opposite sides of the conflicting parties, and this is the Turkish president’s first visit to Cairo after the end of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule in Egypt.
The Turkish president’s meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was not only to draw new political features between the two countries, the economic aspect was clearly reflected in the joint declaration signed by the two sides, although the long political crisis did not affect trade relations much, as Ankara is Cairo’s fifth trade partner, and the declaration included restructuring the meetings of the Turkish-Egyptian Strategic Cooperation Council, as the two presidents announced during a joint press conference, their intention to raise trade exchange between the two countries from 3 billion They also agreed on a future visit by the Egyptian president to Turkey in April.
The new Turkish-Egyptian understanding comes after nearly 12 years of tension and estrangement, and highlights in this context the Libyan file, which the relations between the two countries can transfer to political and economic opportunities and interests, as the size of regional and international interference in the Libyan file makes the Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement a matter of concern for other competing powers in North Africa, and certainly the Gaza file was not absent from the summit, as the two sides stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the access of humanitarian aid.
According to the Turkish agency “Anatolia”, Sisi and Erdogan will chair the upcoming meetings of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, and that the Council will meet alternately every two years in Turkey and Egypt, and the work and agenda will be coordinated for each meeting by the foreign ministers of the two countries, and this Council would deal with all thorny files that witness differences in positions between the two countries.
This new level of relations between the two countries came after a series of signs of rapprochement, including Sisi’s handshake with Erdogan in Qatar in November 2022, on the sidelines of the World Cup, and Egypt and Turkey announced the resumption of the exchange of ambassadors, as a step towards improving relations and resolving differences that have multiplied and developed over the past few years, and before the Turkish president’s visit, his Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed an issue that the two countries had never touched on before, announcing his country’s approval to supply combat marches to Egypt.
But the outstanding files between the two countries remain the testing ground for the way the two parties deal in achieving their interests, as Egypt previously expressed its annoyance with a memorandum of understanding signed on October 3, 2022 between Turkey and the Tripoli government (west) regarding cooperation for oil and gas exploration, and increased tension between the two countries as it came only three years after the conclusion of the controversial Turkish-Libyan maritime border demarcation agreement in 2019, which angered the European Union at the time as well, as it considered Egypt, along with Cyprus. Greece said the 2019 agreement violates its economic rights, as the discovery of vast gas fields in recent years has aroused 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., If the new Egyptian-Turkish relations can redraw the maritime borders with Turkey, this will be a very large political, military and economic security achievement, and the other side of the differences is related to the Muslim Brotherhood movement residing in Turkey, as Cairo wants the Turkish authorities to clamp down on the exiled members of the group, and their supporters residing in Turkey and hand over fugitives whom Cairo accuses of committing acts of violence against the state In addition, the Egyptian authorities wanted to shut down Istanbul-based media channels that are highly critical of Sisi.
The current coordination between Turkey and Egypt on the situation in Sudan highlights the increasing importance of bilateral relations, reflecting a trend towards strengthening cooperation and improving ties to address regional challenges. This rapprochement foreshadows broad cooperation that includes security and diplomacy, contributing to stability in Sudan and encouraging political transition there.
In the face of the current crisis in Sudan, Egypt and Turkey have a common interest in ensuring the stability of the country, given its strategic importance to the stability of the entire region. Egypt shares a direct border with the Sudan, paying particular attention to security on its southern border and to cooperation in the water and economic fields. For its part, Turkey hopes to strengthen its role in Africa and strengthen its relations with African countries, including Sudan, through investment and development support.
Cooperation between the two countries is expected to include supporting the political process in Sudan and contributing to regional and international initiatives to resolve the crisis. In addition, the two countries can work together to provide humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people and support refugees fleeing conflict.
The relations between Ankara and Cairo will open a diplomatic field for cooperation in the Libyan and Sudanese fields as two crises that affect Egyptian security in the first place, and in return Turkey will allow the coordination of its interests in Libya away from the tension left by the Libyan war, as the model of future relations between the two countries is a real test of the ability of regional relations to create stability and calm.
Written by Nidal Al-Khedary
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