Egypt seeks greater diplomatic role in Middle East
In Turkey’s recent elections, Egypt was one of the countries that quickly reached out to increase diplomatic ties. While there were tensions in the past, today Egypt is not only reaching out to Turkey but is also hosting a large delegation from the Palestinian Authority as well as doing outreach to Iran.
This showcases Cairo’s aim at a new role in the region, channeling the larger diplomatic engagement permeating the Middle East and it could also be seen as a return to its historic role as a regional power and a center of dialogue.
The respective PR teams have been at work as well. Egyptian Presidency Spokesman Counsellor Ahmed Fahmy posted online about the two countries working to build ties. Voice of America noted on Tuesday that “Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Cairo on Saturday to push to restore full diplomatic relations between the two countries despite Ankara’s ongoing support for the Muslim Brotherhood group.”
The report further added that “during a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Cavusoglu said that Turkey was “using its influence to extend a Black Sea grain deal permitting the export of grain from Ukraine in its role as mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.”
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also welcomed his Palestinian counterpart Mohamed Shtayyeh at Cairo International Airport on Monday.
The Palestinian delegation was large and this illustrates Cairo’s potential role in increasing trade and other ties with the PA, which could stabilize Ramallah and help reduce current tensions between the Palestinians and Israel.
On Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed a wish to restore ties with Egypt, an interesting move given Iran’s already improved ties with Saudi Arabia, thanks to a China-brokered deal. Iraq has also hosted Iran-Saudi talks. Egypt is a key partner of Saudi Arabia, works closely with other Gulf states and Iraq, and was an early advocate – quietly – of resuming ties with Damascus and Syria has returned to the Arab League.
THE EGYPTIAN comment was made during a meeting with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Oman is a country that has often been a neutral space for many regional states. As such, it can play a key role in working with Egypt to restore ties to Iran.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian delegation in Cairo includes various PA ministers and officials from the offices of the interior, economy, religious affairs, health and agriculture.
Egyptian media noted that “the high-ranking Palestinian delegation groups the ministers of foreign affairs and expatriates, interior, national economy, Awqaf [in charge of religious endowments] and religious affairs, health, agriculture, public works and housing, higher education and scientific research, transport and communications, as well as the head of the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority” came to Cairo.
There was an official reception for these ministers as well as meetings with Egyptian counterparts. This visit will continue for three days.
Historically, Egypt was a major regional power. This was the case not only during the Nasser era – from the 1950s to 1960s – but after the Egypt-Israel peace deal when it became a recipient of US defense aid. Egypt has played a role in the past in Yemen, as well as in ties with Syria and also in North Africa. It has a long arm of interests that stretch up the Nile and to Libya and historically included Iran and Turkey.
It also sits at a crossroads of regional trends; the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood is entwined in Egypt’s political and religious past. Elsewhere, the ruling AKP party, in Turkey, Hamas, and the opposition in Tunisia have ties to the Brotherhood, as do other groups in Jordan, Kuwait, and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Cairo’s current outreach to Turkey and the PA, as well as possible renewed ties with Iran all come in the context of a regional diplomatic thaw in which states are pursuing diplomacy, rather than conflict. This has ramifications for Israel. Egypt has often brokered ceasefires in Gaza and will have an important role to play in the future of issues relating to the Palestinian Authority.