United World – The question is no longer whether, but when “detente” will occur between Egypt and Turkey. Over the past few years, Turkey and Egypt have been at loggerheads. Just over seven years ago, in November 2013, Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador, leaving the two countries with representation at the level of Chargé d’affaires. Since then, there has been a fierce war of words between the two countries coupled with consistent attempts to isolate one another from the international community. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten and reshape our global economy and many uncertainties that lie ahead, strategists wonder whether the pandemic, conflicts in the Middle East, and the endless wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen have damaged the will of people in many countries so badly that our world will be put on a path of “great decline”. Experts are questioning the global role they once embraced in response to the geopolitical turmoil. The role that Turkey and others absent-mindedly acquired in the past now seems to be more than it’s worth, and many want to shed the burden. The reversal of fortune has left many people in Egypt and Turkey worried: what their response might involve is the subject of our analysis. For me, the choice for Cairo and Ankara is between further escalation and a search for mutual accommodation that paves the way for peace among their allies while meeting their own interests. Both sides must pick the latter.
The Libyan conflict
At a time when the Americans are talking about reordering their security priorities with a so-called “pivot” towards Asia, i.e. away from the Middle East, it seems that Turkey has become more than willing to get more involved in the conflicts of the region, from Syria to Libya. Turkey is not alone, of course, in viewing Libya through the prism of strategic interests.
Article originally published on United World
