CLOSE
CLOSE

AMANDA PAUL

[email protected]

AMANDA PAUL
October 04, 2014, Saturday

Turkey-Egypt Relations: at Rock-Bottom

Since Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dissed Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, at the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a tit-for-tat exchange of insults has been going on.

In biting criticism against Sisi, during his UNGA speech, Erdoğan accused Sisi of murdering democracy in Egypt. He went on to slam the UN and “democratic countries,” accusing them of doing nothing but watch the killing of thousands of the innocent Egyptians who protested against Morsi's toppling in June 2013; of legitimizing Sisi, declaring the UN had become “a place where people from autocratic regimes come to speak!” The Egyptian Foreign Ministry was furious, accusing Erdoğan of provoking chaos to “sow divisions in the Middle East region through support for groups and terrorist organizations.” Livid, Ankara responded, which again drew a response from Egypt.

The picture was very different two years ago. When Erdoğan travelled to Egypt in September 2012, Egyptians welcomed him like a pop-star, appreciating his condemnation of former President Hosni Mubarak. It was an era of admiration, when Arabs in general hoped that strong ties between Turks and Arabs could lead to regional development and improved security and stability.

Ties soured following Morsi's removal from power and the ensuing state crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood (MB), a group with which Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has strong relations. Erdoğan emerged as one of the fiercest critics of Morsi's overthrow, repeatedly slamming it as a "coup." Erdoğan was not wrong to call it a “coup”; this is exactly what it was. It was what came after, the heated language of hate against the new authorities in Cairo and the defense of the MB, which ultimately made Turkey look like a MB spokesperson rather than a concerned neighbor.

We all know that Egypt is not a democratic state. Not now, not during Morsi's short rule and not under Mubarak. Each one of these regimes made no genuine attempt to have a democratic and inclusive approach towards governance. Morsi may have been democratically elected, but unfortunately his understanding of democracy began and ended at the ballot box. His one year of rule was marked by controversial decrees and political and economic instability, including in November 2012 issuing a statement placing his decisions above review by Egypt's judiciary. This brought Egyptians back into the streets. The military jumped on this window opportunity, which ultimately brought Sisi to power.

While Erdoğan insists his problem with Sisi is related to democracy, it is rather ideologically motivated. Erdogan really wanted the MB to succeed in Egypt. That it would be the core of a MB-led Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. This did not happen.

I also do not think that Erdoğan is in a position to lecture anybody about democratic values, given democratic values and civil liberties in Turkey are in reverse gear. This is something Egypt's leadership has not failed to miss, pointing out restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly; excessive use of force in dealing with political activists and peaceful demonstrators; severe restrictions imposed on the press, interference in the judiciary, etc. Human Rights Watch's (HRW) new report on Turkey states “that Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been escalating its crackdown on the political opposition, public protests and media.”

As for human rights in Egypt, the recent HRW report paints a bleak picture, including labelling the dispersal of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood's sit-in at Raaba in August 2013, when some 817 protesters were killed, as a “crime against humanity.”

Yet Egypt is the uncontested leader of the Arab world, the most important member of the African Union. While Turkey remains an important regional power, its influence has been diminished as a consequence of its own short-sighted policies. Today Turkey has no ambassador in three important Middle East capitals, Cairo, Tel Aviv and Damascus. At a time when we are faced with an unprecedented threat from a common enemy, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), we need an end to the war of words and a return to the language of diplomacy; to fully unite and support global efforts to defeat ISIL. Furthermore, Sisi seems set to stay in power for quite some time. If Turkey's wants a real role in the future of the Middle East region, it will need to mend fences with Cairo.  
 

Columnists
Previous articles of the columnist