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Logic and timing of Turkey’s normalization with Egypt
May 5, 2021Turkey and Egypt took a new step toward normalization, as a Turkish delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, visited Cairo following contact between intelligence chiefs and foreign ministers.
Turkey and Egypt took a new step toward normalization, as a Turkish delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, visited Cairo following contact between intelligence chiefs and foreign ministers.
Negotiations between these two countries look nothing like the meetings between, say, Turkish and Greek delegations. On that front, Athens, under pressure from the European Union, participates in talks with Ankara without abandoning its maximalist demands. Greece attempts to win some time by ensuring future tensions.
The normalization process between Turkey and Egypt, by contrast, rests firmly on a different regional setting. The United States abandoned Saudi Arabia in Yemen and pursues a nuclear deal with Iran, which challenges the balance of power in the Middle East.
The leaking of a controversial recording of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, where he complains about Qassem Soleimani, together with Russia, trying to block the 2015 nuclear deal, suggests that Tehran, too, wants to reach an agreement with Washington.
According to media reports, Brett McGurk, the U.S. National Security Council’s coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), will visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Jordan to address their concerns about reinstating the nuclear deal.
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