President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s handshake with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi last year was an important message to the system, according to a top Turkish official. The handshake between Erdoğan and el-Sissi during the World Cup in Qatar in November last year was one of the most significant steps of a process that has been ongoing for a year and a half, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said in a TV interview on Tuesday.
"I’m hoping and expecting that the process will accelerate going forward," he added.
Revealing that talks between Turkish and Egyptian ministries were already underway, he said, "These talks could progress to the level of appointing ambassadors or taking other steps at leaders’ levels. We will continue having a positive attitude toward this process."
The Turkish spokesperson recalled the period in 2013 when Türkiye’s relations with Egypt deteriorated after Ankara took an opposing stance against el-Sissi’s government, which came to power by ousting the late President Mohammed Morsi in a military coup. Ties have continued at the level of charge d’affairs since then.
For the past two years, however, Türkiye has been making an effort to mend the frayed ties with Egypt, as both sides have been compelled by recent international and regional developments to recalibrate their positions on contrasting issues including maritime borders, military exercises and energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.
A rapprochement that began between Ankara and Cairo in 2020 saw the sides agreeing on an arrangement in the region, communication channels opening, senior bureaucrats coming together and the first official delegations meeting for exploratory talks in order to achieve peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The normalization process between the two countries has been progressing slowly but steadily, in spite of a recent spike in tensions involving their neighbors Greece and Libya.
"If you think about that period, Egypt entered various alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean. A significant portion of these was founded on the basis of being against Türkiye or excluding Türkiye," Kalın said, referring to, among others, Cairo’s partnering with Greece in 2020 to designate an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Eastern Mediterranean whose legitimacy Ankara had questioned and subsequently dismissed at the time.
"I understand that realigning these alliances and transforming them on a reasonable level while building ties with Türkiye can take time. I believe Egypt is also making such an effort rather than harboring ill intentions or unwillingness. They’re trying to reposition themselves," Kalın said.
"It has once again become a norm that any project in the Eastern Mediterranean will not work without Türkiye," he concluded.
Iranian side
When asked about the government crackdown on the ongoing protests in Iran, and whether there was a potential that the unrest would grow further, especially in terms of South Azerbaijan’s influence, Kalın expressed that the protests were "saddening and concerning," saying, "I hope the protests evolve into a structure that guarantees basic rights and liberties for all."
He revealed that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s planned visit to Türkiye was postponed to a near date. "It’s not yet known but it could take place in the coming weeks," he noted.
"Iran’s pro-Armenian statements at times hurt us as they do Azerbaijan," Kalın also said and stressed that Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Armenia and Georgia must act in harmony together and be open and clear with one another in order to achieve lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
The region is home to a long-running conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Karabakh region, which was liberated from Armenian occupation after almost three decades following a 44-day war that saw Azerbaijani forces regain control over swathes of Karabakh, where Armenia has continued laying territorial claims and violating a Russia-brokered truce.
Iran shares a 44-kilometer (27-mile) border with Armenia that runs from the tripoint with Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan region in the west to the tripoint with mainland Azerbaijan in the east. Iranian authorities have been concerned over changes in borders with Armenia amid the latest flare-up, with the top Iranian diplomat raising the issue with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in recent months.
Israel under Netanyahu
The Turkish spokesperson also commented on the assumption of office by the new right-wing government in Israel after veteran politician Benjamin Netanyahu returned as prime minister in November 2022.
"Frankly, I personally worry greatly about the fact that the new government will support settlement expansion policies," Kalın said.
Palestinians warn that Netanyahu's government will be one of the most radical in recent Israeli history, expanding settlement construction across the occupied West Bank and allowing violations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.