Senior YPG-affiliated terrorist Ilham Ahmed was welcomed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo as part of the leader's increased anti-Turkey drive in response to the maritime agreement struck between Libya and Turkey.
“Foreign Minister Shoukry is receiving the head of the executive body of the Syrian Democratic Council [SDC], Ilham Ahmed, and her accompanying delegation, at his office in the Ministry’s headquarters in Cairo” tweeted Ahmed Hafez, spokesperson for Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Saturday. In the photos, SDC co-Chair Riyad Derar was seen accompanying Ahmad in her visit.
The Syrian Democratic Council is the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella organization led by the PKK-affiliated YPG in Syria. This follows Shoukry's meeting the co-chairs in Cairo in October.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo have soured since Egypt's first and only democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in a military coup led by Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
More recently, Greece and Egypt geared up their anti-Turkey efforts in light of Ankara and Tripoli signing two separate memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on Nov. 27: One outlining military cooperation and the other on a maritime boundary shared by both countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Furthermore, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias made a surprise visit to Benghazi last week to meet with eastern Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar and aids Abdullah es-Sinni and Abdul Hadi Al-Howeej.