It's come to this: Egypt asks Israel to keep Turkey away from Gaza
Egypt is worried - really worried - about the prospect that Turkey will have a role to play in Gaza, and with 'reconciliation talks' between Israel and Turkey ostensibly taking place, the Egyptians have asked Israel to ensure that
Turkey will stay away.
Senior officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz that Egypt expressed its reservations regarding granting Turkey a role in the Gaza Strip, and asked whether Israel had committed to any easing of restrictions in the closure imposed on Gaza.
These officials, who asked to remain anonymous due to the delicate diplomatic nature of the issue, stated that what caused the Egyptian government’s displeasure was Israeli media reports from a few weeks ago, according to which a breakthrough had been reached in reconciliation talks with Turkey, as well as reports in the Turkish media that Israel had agreed to take significant steps in easing the maritime siege on Gaza.
Senior Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials met with Israel’s ambassador Haim Koren and asked if these reports were correct and whether Israel and Turkey are indeed close to reconciling. The temporary chargé d’affaires at the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv delivered similar messages in a recent meeting with senior Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem. Egypt expressed its opposition to any Israeli concessions to Turkey with regard to the Gaza Strip.
Egypt has two concerns: Turkey's support for Mohammed Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt, and Turkey's close relations with Hamas.
Last week, Erdogan said that as part of the negotiations with Israel over the agreement, Turkey is interested in sending a ship that would arrive directly in Gaza, providing electricity and delivering construction materials. He noted that Israel has told Turkey that it would lift the siege if aid to Gaza goes through Turkey.
Last week, the Turkish Hürriyet Daily News reported that Turkey demanded that Israel grants it “unlimited access” in providing aid to the Gaza Strip. The report noted that senior Turkish officials said that if Israel allows this, Turkey will consider it a fulfillment of its condition that Israel lifts its siege.
Haaretz's Barak Ravid reports that the tensions between Egypt and Turkey are holding up any Israeli reconciliation with Turkey. Well, good.
Labels: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt, Egypt-Turkey alliance, Gaza, Gaza blockade, Hamas, Mohammed Morsy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey
Of course: Erdogan blames Israel for coup in Egypt
I wonder
whom he has in mind... (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated that he considers Mohammed Morsi, who
was ousted by the military in early July, to be the president of Egypt.
“Currently, my president in
Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people. Therefore, if we
don't consider the situation like this, we would disregard the people of
Egypt. Disregarding the will of the Egyptian people means disregarding
yourself because in Turkey we respect the will of the people. We would
respect the coup regime if they had won at the ballot box,” said Erdoğan
at a fast-breaking dinner.
Stating that it is not the duty of the army to govern the country,
Erdoğan underlined that the sole role of an army is to protect a
country's borders.
“Why is there a ballot box? From the results of the box, a government
would emerge through the will of the people and that government would
govern the country. That government may be successful or not. If the
government stops being successful, then the ballot box will come to the
fore. When it comes to the fore, then you can say that the government
has failed,” said Erdoğan.
...
Referring to the Gezi demonstrations, which
began at the end of May in protest of government plans for the
redevelopment of Gezi Park in İstanbul's Taksim Square and turned to
nation-wide anti-government protests, Erdoğan maintained that there the
incidents in Egypt and Turkey were not dissimilar.
“The origin of the incidents in both countries is the same. I will
declare what that origin is when the time comes. It is saved in our
memory cards,” said Erdoğan.
Given that he already blamed Israel for the Gezi park demonstrations, it's pretty obvious, whom he means.... Labels: Egypt-Turkey alliance, Egyptian regime change, Mohammed Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish spring
Erdogan's Egyptian nightmare
What's going on in Egypt today has to be
causing nightmares for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan writes Victor Kotsev (Hat Tip:
Herb G).
True, the danger of a military coup in Turkey at the moment is close to zero, if only because Erdogan has locked up an entire army college (some 330 officers) on charges of plotting against him.
But the parallels between the two countries run far beyond the
superficial. For the record, so too did Egyptian still-President
Mohammed Morsi try to purge the army last year, although he only removed
a few top generals.
Most importantly, both countries are experimenting with moderate
political Islam, and the experiments have produced mixed result as far
as genuine democracy is concerned. It is true that Islamic radicals
(extremists) and Islamic conservatives (moderates) are two very
different species which have fought in the past, and it is also true
that the Turkish government, in particular, has implemented a number of
popular reforms. However, another fact is that the moderate Islamists'
majoritarian understanding of democracy is radically different from that
of more liberal constituencies present in both countries.
The Turkish and the Egyptian governments - both democratically elected -
have cracked down on the press, rolled back some civil liberties and
planned to change the constitutions in ways many citizens found
unacceptable. Enter Taksim square and Tahrir v. 2.0.
The dangers of social friction become more acute as the economy
declines. Egypt is in dire straits, while Turkey is currently widely
lauded as an economic miracle, not only in the Middle East, but also in
Europe. Erdogan deserves much of the credit for this, though the painful
economic reforms executed by the previous government, which led to its
downfall, also contributed.
However, there is a growing financial bubble in Turkey. Whether it is
fueled by hot Arab money or by Western investors seeking to escape the
low returns in the US and Europe as well as the dangers of Greece and
other countries offering higher yields, many analysts expect it to pop
in the next year or two. What would happen then is anybody's guess.
Read it all.
Actually the Turkish economy, while nowhere near as badly off as Egypt, is
much worse than Kotsev makes it out to be.
Labels: Egypt-Turkey alliance, Mohammed Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish economy
Turkey signing strategic alliance with Egypt; Egypt hints that it may expel Israeli ambassador eventually
The reason why Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is going to Egypt next week is to
sign a strategic alliance with the Egyptians.
Egyptian newspaper al-Youm al-Sabe'a quoted Turkish diplomats as saying that Erdogan will arrive in Cairo next week. During the visit he is slated to meet Higher Military Council chief General Hussein Tantawi, Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and other Egyptian officials.
According to the report, Erdogan will be accompanied by Turkey's foreign minister, trade and industry minister and a number of businessmen. The purpose of the visit will be to sign strategic cooperation agreements in the military, diplomatic and commercial fields.
Egypt says that it won't expel Israel's ambassador - for now.
An Egyptian foreign ministry official said that Turkey's decision to expel the ambassador will not propel Egypt to do the same with the Israeli ambassador to Cairo. In an interview with the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, the official outlined the differences between the Egyptian and the Turkish cases. "The Turkish decision to expel the ambassador is based on an international UN probe, similar to the investigation Egypt is conducting now. Egypt's decision will be based on this probe."
What could go wrong?
Labels: Egypt-Turkey alliance, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish obsession with Israel
