By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL -On Sunday, at an event in Konya, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned the possibility that his country could develop ties with Syria in the future as he indicated Turkish ties with Egypt are beginning to normalize. As Erdogan reiterated: “Just as Türkiye-Egypt relations started to normalize, in the next period, it can also happen with Syria. There is no room for hard feelings in politics.” The Turkish leader referenced his recent meeting in Qatar with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that he characterized as positive. Erdogan explained that el-Sissi was “very happy” with the meeting and Erdogan said the feeling was mutual. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Games.
Erdogan expressed his hope that a normalization process with Egypt continues to develop at the ministerial level. The Turkish president also said that it was with the support of Qatar’s emir that tensions with Egypt could be overcome. Erdogan added: “Recently, we have experienced a problem spanning nine years. We took a step that evening, with the support of Qatar’s emir. After overcoming the tension, we had a very focused meeting with el-Sissi for half an hour to 45 minutes.” He said the remainder of the process in normalizing ties will be left to the relevant ministers to start the talks. Then he said, top officials would expand and develop the discussions, adding “all we care about is removing the resentment between you (Egypt) and Turkiye. There should not be such a problem between Türkiye and Egypt in the Mediterranean.” He also said: “The connections between the Egyptian people and Türkiye are very different, we should not lose this power to others.”
Erdogan explained that Egypt and Turkiye have had no ambassadors in either country since 2013 after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was outsed by the military, though the respective embassies and consulate continued their routine activities. Erdogan said that during the last nine years, brief meetings were held between the foreign ministers of both countries at certain times. Adding that the normalization process between the two is continuing gradually. Currently, they began consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in 2021, initiated by Türkiye, to ease tensions with regional powers including the UAE, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia. He also emphasized that relations between Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are solid, adding they will be even better in the future.
